FIFA’s guillotine came down with full force. World soccer’s governing body imposed lifetime bans on two former presidents of national federations for serious financial crimes, including the embezzlement of pandemic relief funds and a long history of bribery in the Caribbean, further pushing the narrative of ongoing FIFA corruption.
Bassam Adeel Jaleel
The first to be sanctioned is Bassam Adeel Jaleel, former president of the Maldives Football Federation. FIFA permanently banned him from the sport for using funds from the COVID-19 Relief Program—a program that made up to $1.5 billion available—for personal gain. His greed cost him dearly: the courts in his country had already sentenced him to 23 years in prison earlier this year for pocketing $1.2 million from FIFA. The money, which was intended to help local clubs, ended up being used to buy apartments.
Vincent Cassell
The second case is hard to believe. Vincent Cassell, the longtime soccer boss in Montserrat, was ousted for “abuse of position, systemic conflicts of interest,” and embezzlement of funds from both FIFA and his own federation. Cassell has a shady track record: in 2011, he had already been indicted in connection with the infamous scandal involving $40,000 in cash payments linked to Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, during his failed campaign to unseat Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.
Despite this troubling history, Cassell and his longtime general secretary, Tandica Hughes, remained at the helm of the organization in Montserrat, freely managing the at least $2 million annually that FIFA injects into the federation from World Cup profits. Their reign ended as recently as February of this year, when FIFA had to intervene and install an emergency management team following the departure of both officials.
To cap off the disaster, both Cassell and Hughes had already pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a Montserrat court last April. An absolute scandal that has finally been shown the red card.
