FIFA’s Michael Garcia Investigating FIFA Members For Ethics Violations

FIFA’s unofficial “maverick,” Michael Garcia, has opened up investigations on three FIFA Executive Committee members because of possible ethics violations concerning the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup votes.

Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium) and Worawi Makudi (Thailand) are those who are now being investigated as well as “a number of individuals,” currently being investigated according to Garcia including German soccer legend, Franz Beckenbauer and Harold Mayne-Nicholls (Chile).

While not much information has been revealed explaining why these people are being investigated, D’Hooghe went public in an email to explain why he’s being investigated and made sure to deny the allegations.

In the email, he mentioned that he “accepted a painting from a senior figure involved in the Russia 2018 bid, but said the picture had no value.” D’Hooghe also said that “his son Pieter’s move to become a surgeon at the Aspetar sports medicine hospital in Qatar in 2012 was unrelated.”

D’Hooghe wrote in the email, “The nomination of my son was a purely medical decision, without any involvement of myself and without any relation with the bid.”

It remains to be seen as to what’s going to happen. It just looks like another typical day in at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

(ESPN FC)

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp

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