Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - In the wake of FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s visit to Burma, the president of the world body that oversees football has found himself embroiled in a scandal involving the organization’s dealings with a Burmese construction company.

Swiss news magazine Woz reported on Thursday that the Swiss government’s Sanctions Division will look into whether FIFA, also known as the International Association of Federation Football, which is headquartered in Zurich, has violated the country’s sanctions laws against Burma.

The construction company at the centre of the inquiry is controlled by the head of the Myanmar Football Federation, tycoon Zaw Zaw, who is blacklisted by the EU, the US and the Swiss government’s Burma sanctions for his close ties to the Burmese regime. Despite Zaw Zaw’s pariah status, Blatter, who is facing re-election for the presidency of FIFA in June, accepted an invitation from the Myanmar Football Federation for a two-day tour of Burma last week.

Previously the Swiss government indicated to Mizzima that FIFA’s financial support for football projects headed by the Myanmar Football Federation did not violate Swiss sanctions targeting Zaw Zaw because the Swiss ‘sanctions are targeted and aim only at those listed, e.g. Mr. Zaw Zaw. The Myanmar Football Federation is not Mr. Zaw Zaw’s private property and therefore our sanctions should not impact the federation’.

New information has surfaced, however, which suggests that FIFA also gave funds directly to Zaw Zaw’s company which is blacklisted by the Swiss, US and EU governments. The junta-friendly English language weekly the Myanmar Times reported last December that Zaw Zaw’s Max Myanmar Group won the contract to revamp the Youth Training Center in Thingangyun Township in Rangoon. 

The Rangoon youth training center upgrade is one of two projects in Burma that FIFA has supported with a grant of US $400,000 from the FIFA Goal project fund. The other project to receive a US $400,000 FIFA grant is a football academy in Mandalay. During his brief trip to Burma, Blatter visited both projects with his host Zaw Zaw.

Under FIFA’s Goal project regulations which FIFA said were followed in Burma, FIFA funds construction projects in FIFA-member nation’s by giving money directly to the firms contracted for the construction projects, as opposed to giving funds to the respective national football federation. Under the FIFA regulations, all contracts are also to be signed by FIFA.

These rules implemented by FIFA ostensibly to fight corruption mean that FIFA funds for upgrading football facilities in Burma would not have gone to the Myanmar Football Federation but to the Max Myanmar Group instead.  

In light of the information connecting FIFA to the Max Myanmar group, Thomas Graf of the Swiss government’s sanction’s section told Woz: ‘We will need to clarify this and contact FIFA’.

It will be up to the Swiss government whether FIFA or any of its staff will face charges for violating Switzerland’s sanctions regulations. Those found guilty of violating Swiss sanctions face a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss francs (US $547,000) or a maximum one-year prison term.

Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma and a dedicated football fan, told Mizzima he was pleased to see that the Swiss government was pursuing the issue. The former political prisoner told Mizzima that ‘financial corruption in Burma must be taken seriously by the international community’.  Bo Kyi said that the results of any investigation should be made public so the people of Burma will know what is going on.

FIFA, however, is unwilling to disclose any more information about its spending in Burma and will likely resist the Swiss government’s investigation. Earlier this week a FIFA spokesperson told Mizzima that the organization would not reveal more information about how Goal project money is spent in Burma. According to the spokesperson, ‘The details of contacts signed by FIFA are confidential’