Former Fifa official Jack Warner generated a profit of at least $17m (€15.2m) on football World Cup media rights that were sold to him for a fraction of their true value, according to the Press Association Sport news agency.
SRF, a branch of Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG SSR, reported the details of a contract signed off by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in 2005 for rights covering the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. The rights were reportedly sold for $600,000 to the Warner-controlled Caribbean Football Union.
Press Association Sport said Warner, who was CFU president at the time, sublicensed the rights to his own Cayman Islands-registered company J & D International. In 2007, JDI sold on the rights to Jamaica-based SportsMax for between $18m and $20m. The pay-television broadcaster reported the amount on its website.
Fifa responded by saying: “On 12 September 2005, Fifa signed a contract with the Caribbean Football Union regarding TV broadcasting rights. Under the terms of this agreement Fifa was to receive a fixed licensing fee as well as a 50 per cent share of any profits related to the subcontracting of these rights.”
Fifa added: “The CFU made several breaches to the contract and failed to meet its financial obligations. The obligations concerning the required pre-approval for subcontracting were not met either. For these reasons, Fifa terminated its contract with the CFU on 25 July 2011.”