30 November,2010 08:42 AM IST | | AFP
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International yesterday called on FIFA to postpone the race to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, after renewed media allegations of corruption were made.
The call by the private campaign group came just days before the executive committee of world football's governing body was due to designate the two host nations under the eyes of a brace of world leaders and stars. "The decision to award football's World Cup in 2018 and 2022, scheduled for December 2, 2010, must be postponed until full light is shed on the allegations published in the press," Transparency International Switzerland said in a statement.
"These have brought such discredit to the decision-making processes at FIFA that a decision in the current circumstances would only fuel the controversy," it added.
The Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported that Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, African football chief Issa Hayatou and his South American counterpart Nicolas Leoz were tied to a secret list of payments from bankrupt FIFA marketing partner ISMM/ISL over a decade ago.
