FIFA Delay Release of ISL Scandal Documents

FIFA, has been forced to delay the publication of potentially incriminating documents following ‘legal measures taken’ from one of the parties involved, soccer’s governing body said Tuesday.

However, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was determined that the documents, relating to the collapse of its former marketing partner ISL, would be published as part of his plan to clean up his organsation, which has been plagued by allegations of corruption.

Blatter announced in October that he wanted to re-open the case into the collapse of ISL, which went bankrupt in 2001, and had hoped to publish the file at the next executive committee meeting in Japan on Dec. 17.

Blatter said in a statement on the FIFA website: “FIFA has been working intensively over the past few weeks with its lawyers and legal team to be able to publish the ISL file at the next meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee.”

“It was my strong will to make the ISL file fully transparent at this meeting. I have now been advised that as a result of the objection of a third party to such transparency it will take more time to overcome the respective legal hurdles.

“This does not change my stance at all. I remain fully committed to publishing the files as soon as possible as an important part of my many reform plans for FIFA, which include handling the past as well as preparing the future structure of the organisation.”

Swiss prosecutors investigated the collapse of ISL but the case was settled after they said two FIFA officials — whose names have not been divulged — paid back 5.5 million Swiss francs ($6.1 million).