South Korea's Chung Mong-joon has
said he is facing a 15-year suspension by FIFA's Ethics Committee that has
"sabotaged" his campaign for the FIFA Presidency, but he denied any
wrongdoing and vowed to continue his bid to lead soccer's world governing body.
Speaking
at a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Chung read out a nine-page statement,
addressing the charges against him, which he dismissed as a ploy "to
prevent me from running for the President of FIFA."
"The
fundamental reason why I am being targeted is that I aimed straight at the
existing power structure of FIFA," Chung said.
Bound
by confidentiality rules, FIFA's Ethics Committee has not made any statements
on Chung's case and there was no immediate response to his comments on Tuesday.
Chung
said he was being charged with violating six articles from FIFA's Code of
Ethics, which he said stemmed from his "support" for South Korea's
2022 World Cup bid and his proposal to launch a Global Football Fund (GFF).
"Ethics
committee is not charging me with criminal offense, and it is not charging me
with 'bribery,' 'corruption' or 'conflict of interest,' he said.
"All
that the ethics committee is relying on is that I have not fully 'cooperated'
or 'collaborated' with the investigation and that I had violated
'confidentiality' requirements."
Chung
said his proposals for the establishment of a GFF were in line with FIFA's
rules at the time and had already been investigated and cleared.
He
provided copies of two letters, dated 10 Nov. 2010 and signed by former FIFA
Secretary General Jerome Valcke, stating that FIFA agreed the integrity of the
bidding process had not been affected so the matter was deemed closed.
"Yet
the Ethics Committee has now asked for 15 years of sanction for this,"
Chung said.
"With
the campaign season starting, even issues that had been closed many years ago,
have a way of being revived."
VINDICATION
The
scion of Korea's Hyundai industrial conglomerate, Chung vowed to fight the
charges, adding "ultimately, I will prevail and will be vindicated."
In
November, Chung was named in FIFA's Ethics report into the bidding process for
the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, in which South Korea made a bid to host.
The
report followed an investigation led by U.S. lawyer Michael Garcia and looked
into letters that Chung sent, in late 2010, to FIFA executive committee
members about a proposal to establish a GFF for soccer development.
"According
to those letters, Korea intended to raise US$777 million from 2011 to build new
football infrastructure and renovate existing facilities," said the
report, which added that the fund was linked to South Korea's 2022 bid.
"There
was nothing unusual about GFF. The GFF was perfectly in line with the football
development projects that FIFA asked every bidding country to propose as part
of their bid requirement," Chung said.
"No
money or personal favors were exchanged in relation to GFF and no such charges
were made against me."
Chung,
a 63-year-old billionaire who previously served as a FIFA vice-president,
formally announced in August that he was running for the FIFA presidency.
The
incumbent, Sepp Blatter, is to stand down in February.
Blatter
has run FIFA for the past 17 years and recently become the focus of a criminal
investigation but has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
Chung
has been heavily critical of Blatter, saying from the outset that he feared his
own presidential campaign would be undermined, describing the Ethics Committee
as Blatter's "hitman".
"The
true danger is that they are not only sabotaging my candidacy. They are
sabotaging FIFA's election and FIFA itself," Chung said.
"As
preposterous as it may sound, there are media reports that Mr. Blatter plans to
stay on as President once all the presidential candidates are forced out.
"However,
the election is in danger of being turned into a farce."
ONGOING
INVESTIGATIONS
FIFA's
awarding of the 2018 and 2022 competitions to Russia and Qatar is just one of
the strands under scrutiny from U.S. and Swiss authorities investigating
corruption in the organization that run's the world's most popular sport.
Scandals
surrounding global soccer exploded in May, when 14 soccer officials and sports
marketing executives were indicted on U.S. charges of racketeering, money
laundering and wire fraud in relation to bribery schemes that dated back
decades.
Last
month, Blatter's right hand man Valcke was suspended following accusations
regarding ticket sales at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Valcke denies any
wrongdoing.
A
week later, Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on
suspicion of mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.
Some
of soccer's major sponsors have since issued calls for the immediate
resignation of Blatter but the 79-year-old has responded by saying he would not
quit.
"In
June, the European Parliament urged Blatter to resign. Recently, it was joined
by the British government and some of FIFA's sponsors. I appreciate their
efforts," Chung said.
"But
they are friends of football, not the constituents of FIFA. The constituents of
FIFA are the national associations.
"Therefore,
it is not right for national association to remain bystanders. FIFA is much
sicker than it looks."