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A
man walks inside Chile's National Association of Professional Soccer, ANFP,
while police investigators entered the building to look for documents and computers
from the office of former president of the ANFP, Sergio Jadue, in Santiago,
Chile, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)
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The South American lands
that are home to some of soccer's greatest players now are at the centre of the
sport's biggest corruption scandal. The names don't resonate like those of Pele,
Messi and Maradona, but they've been part of several generations of South
Americans who have run the popular, profitable and murky business of soccer.
Two
waves of arrests and sweeping indictments in the last six months by U.S. and
Swiss authorities investigating widespread corruption in FIFA, the sport's
multibillion-dollar world governing body, have snared 13 top soccer officials
from the continent, more than any other region.
The
current and two former heads of CONMEBOL, the South American governing body,
are under arrest: President Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay, and former
Presidents Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay.
"The
sin of the region, of CONMEBOL, was the lack of sharing of power," Chile's
leading sports commentator Aldo Schiappacasse told The Associated Press.
Decades-long
tenures of soccer official from Brazil to Bolivia "created a wonderful
breeding ground for corruption," he said.
"They
were virtually untouchable. They held on to their jobs in a remarkable way.
That's why I think the South American case stands out the most. The jobs seemed
to go on forever, and that made corruption easier to carry out in our
region," Schiappacasse said.
The
corruption dragnet has left CONMEBOL's third vice president, Wilmar Valdez, in
line to become its acting president.
"CONMEBOL
is in a very urgent and complex situation," Valdez, who is also the
president of the Uruguayan soccer federation, told the AP.
Valdez
said he would go to the body's headquarters in Asuncion, Paraguay, in the
coming days to talk about the future with the few remaining officials who have
not been jailed or indicted. They must figure out how to make payments on
current contracts and maintain crucial sponsors.
During
this year's continental championship known as the Copa America, CONMEBOL said
it would be forced to use a reserve fund for prize money and other expenses.
That's because the company handling rights to the tournament had its accounts
frozen as part of the U.S. corruption investigation.
One
financial savior for CONMEBOL might be next year's Copa America Centenario,
which is to be held in the United States and will feature 16 national teams
from North, Central, South America and the Caribbean.
Stars
such as Argentina's Lionel Messi, Brazil's Neymar and Uruguay's Luis Suarez
will be there, and the matches are sure to fill large U.S. stadiums with
passionate Latin American fans.
On
Thursday, U.S. Soccer indicated the tournament would go on, despite the sport's
current scandal.
"Today's
events ... in no way pierce the integrity of the rigorous safeguards the United
States Soccer Federation required before agreeing to host Copa America
Centenario, that ensure the tournament is organized and conducted in a way that
is open, transparent and above reproach."
A
close look at CONMEBOL's headquarters in Asuncion, Paraguay, explains much
about how South American soccer has been shielded from scrutiny: The building
itself was behind closed gates and above the law. Until this year, Paraguayan
law gave the headquarters the kind of legal immunity that an embassy enjoys.
"The
police can't come in, nor can an investigating judge. Nobody can as long as
this law is in force," Leoz told the Argentine sports daily Ole in 2012.
He compared the arrangement to that of the Vatican.
Thursday's
92-count indictment reads like a guide to soccer power on the continent.
—
From Brazil, Marco Polo del Nero, the president of the Brazilian federation;
and former president Ricardo Teixeira, the former son-in-law of Brazilian Joao
Havelange, FIFA's president in 1974-98.
—
From Argentina, Jose Luis Meiszner, CONMEBOL general secretary; and Eduardo
Deluca, a former CONMBEOL general secretary.
—
From Peru, Manuel Burga, a former Peruvian soccer federation president.
—
From Ecuador, Luis Chiriboga, president of the Ecuadorean federation and a
member of CONMEBOL's executive committee.
—
From Bolivia, Carlos Chavez, CONMEBOL treasurer and president of the Bolivian
football federation.
—
From Paraguay, Napout.
Add
to these, the other South American officials who were arrested in the first
wave of indictments six months ago:
—
From Venezuela, Rafael Esquivel, the former head of the Venezuelan federation
—
From Brazil, Jose Maria Marin, another former head of the Brazilian federation.
—
From Paraguay, Leoz.
—
From Uruguay: Figueredo.
Many
of the South Americans have also held positions with FIFA.
Also
pleading guilty to charges were former Colombian federation president Luis
Bedoya and former Chilean federation president Sergio Jadue.
As
the arrests were taking place Thursday in Switzerland, there was one sign of
business as usual in the often shady world of South American soccer.
Elections
were held to choose the new president of the Argentine Football Association,
the national governing body headed by Julio Grondona from 1979 until his death
last year — a man so widely respected and feared that he was known as "Don
Julio."
A
total of 75 voters cast ballots for either Marcelo Tinelli or Luis Segura. But
when the ballots were counted, each candidate received 38 votes — meaning
someone voted twice or the ballot box was stuffed.
"It makes me
laugh," said Anibal Fernandez, a top aide to Argentina President Cristina
Fernandez. "The situation is a tragic comedy."
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