FIFA Ethics Panel to Address Case of Presidential Hopeful Chung -- Exclusive

(ATR) Around the Rings understands that the FIFA Ethics Committee may rule on its investigation into Chung Mong-joon next week, hours before he is due to speak at Leaders in Football in London.

The South Korean, who is vying for the FIFA presidency, is under investigation by the ethics panel.

The committee is expected to meet on Monday or Tuesday to examine the corruption allegations against Chung. This will likely be followed by a statement about its probe, which could scupper his chances of continuing in the FIFA presidential race.

Chung is a proposed speaker at the Leaders in Football conference on Wednesday in a session titled 'A New Chapter: Manifesto for the future of World Football'.

"From financial transparency and alterations to the structures and decision-making processes, many key reforms are proposed to create an open and ethical FIFA, and to rebuild its reputation," said conference organizers, adding that it would highlight some of the important areas of debate across world football governance and insights into plans of the presidential candidates.

A Leaders spokeswoman tells ATR that Chung is not yet confirmed but discussions are taking place to secure him as a speaker.

FIFA’s ethics chiefs are understood to be probing payments he made to Haiti and Pakistan in 2010. He claims they were "charitable donations" to disaster relief funds not bribes relating to his country’s 2022 World Cup bid.

Chung, who was ousted from the FIFA ExCo by Prince Ali Bin Al-Husseinof Jordan in 2011, is also under scrutiny for his proposed $777 million global football development fund which was part of his lobbying campaign to secure 2022 hosting rights for South Korea.

The Hyundai scion rejects any accusations of wrongdoing. He said in August that FIFA was trying to "sabotage" his presidential candidacy and blasted leaked sources attacking his integrity and "factual distortions" undermining his FIFA campaign.

On Tuesday, Chung said FIFA was in "meltdown" and called for an emergency taskforce to run football’s governing body until Blatter’s successor is elected. An elective congress is scheduled to take place in Zurich on Feb. 26.

FIFA's Ethics Committee will not comment on ongoing investigations.

ATR understands that the FIFA’s ethics chiefs are "working very actively" and there will be "substantial information" released in the coming days and weeks.

Swiss authorities placed FIFA president Sepp Blatter under investigation for "criminal mismanagement or misappropriation of funds" on Friday. FIFA’s ethics committee is reviewing the allegations and could ban him. He is suspected of signing a TV rights contract, understood to be with disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, that was "unfavourable to Fifa" and making a "disloyal payment" to Platini. The UEFA chief is under pressure to fully explain why it took nine years for the $2 million payment to be executed. Both deny wrongdoing but face possible suspensions.

On Friday, speculation surfaced that Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa may be preparing a run for the FIFA presidency if Platini’s own bid for world football’s top job falls apart as a result of the Swiss attorney general’s investigation. Swiss authorities have described Platini as "between a witness and an accused person" in its probe into the "disloyal payment".

But a well-connected Asian source tells ATR he does not think Salman will run for the presidency.

Prince Ali, who has declared his plans to run again for the FIFA job, is emerging as the new frontrunner. He was defeated by Blatter in the May election.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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