The FIFA governing body faces another scandal as several officials and footballers appear in the Panama Papers, a massive and historic leak of confidential documents that reveal how the rich and powerful from countries across the globe use tax havens to hide their wealth. The documents show how a law firm based in Panama City, Mossack Fonseca, helped clients over four decades launder huge amounts of money and avoid taxes, while evading any legal action against them.
IN DEPTH:
The Panama Papers
FIFA officials named include: Jerome Valcke, former secretary general of FIFA; Eugenio Figueredo, former president of the South American Football Confederation and vice president and member of the Ethics Committee of FIFA; Michel Platini, former president of the Union of European Football Association; Juan Pedro Damiani, member of the Ethics Committee of FIFA; and Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, Argentine businessmen, also implicated in the 2015 FIFA corruption case.
#panamapapers: "The biggest leak of inside information in history" https://t.co/902UwJ3BnU pic.twitter.com/dlMZShPOfJ
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) April 3, 2016
Football players named include Lionel Messi, Barcelona and Argentine superstar; Ivan Zamorano, retired Chilean striker; Darko Kovacevic, former Serbian player; Nihat Kahveci, former Turkish footballer; Sander Westerveld, retired Dutch goalkeeper; Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player; Valeri Karpin, Russian retired player; Gabriel Schurrer, Argentine retired footballer; and Mattias Asper, retired Swedish goalkeeper.
Some of the footballers had accounts tied to their teams.
Other players include Gabriel Ivan Heinze, Argentine former footballer; Leonardo Ulloa, Argentine player; Marc Rieper, retired Danish player; and Brian Steen Nielsen, former Danish player and sports director of Aarhus Gymnastikforening.