Scottish whistleblower hounded out by FIFA’s ‘mafia family’ breaks his silence

A FIFA whistleblower has likened the sporting body to the MAFIA and claims the current crop of corruption allegations are just the tip of the iceberg.

John McBeth who was driven out of football for exposing FIFA as a dishonest, archaic organisation said it is a “mafia family” that has prospered from sleazy deals for years.

He has accused officials of milking the game dry to fuel their own insatiable greed and claims the fast moving corruption probe engulfing world football’s governing body “should have happened a long time ago”.

“Ethics and morals quickly fade when money is involved,” said the retired Scottish football chief who was unceremoniously forced out of football in 2007 after claiming African and Caribbean football associations were corrupt.

At the time he was accused of being racist and found himself dropped like a stone.

Now his comments merely look way ahead of their time prompting calls for an immediate apology over his shoddy treatment.

Nine top officials and five others have been charged over racketeering and money-laundering dating back more than 25 years with more than £100 million believed to have been paid in bribes.

But despite an FBI investigation, the threat of prison sentences, and claims of rampant corruption, under-fire Sepp Blatter remains President of the beleaguered organisation.

Today, in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Post, ex-SFA supremo Mr McBeth has warned the omert code of silence at the heart of Fifa will prevent any meaningful change to the levels of sleaze engulfing Fifa.

“Blatter loves to talk about la familia, the football family. But in reality Fifa is a mafia family,” said Mr McBeth, 71.

“I’ve always said he will either die as president or go to prison.

“The cupboards are full of skeletons and unless he can bring in a successor to keep them hidden, he has a problem.

“It’s true the FBI investigation has shone some light on what’s gone on, but I fear real change is a long way from happening.”

He said the current corruption allegations are a “tragedy” as “football has the ability to have a real and lasting impact”.

But “there are too many people who don’t want to lose their positions,” says devout Christian McBeth, speaking from his Ayrshire home.

McBeth, who spent four years in charge of the SFA, believes the corruption probe “is something that should have happened a long time ago”.

He added: “There’s a number of factors which have contributed to corruption being allowed to fester.

“They travel the world first-class. In my day they were getting $500 a day in expenses and their wife could pick up $250 a day.

“It’s easy to see why someone would be reluctant to give that up. People will easily turn the other cheek if they are getting £1m for four years’ work.

“Even if they do stand up and rock the boat, how long will they last?

“There’s always going to be someone who will step in, replace them and play the game.”

Former Clyde Chairman McBeth, who has retired from the game, also believes Fifa’s Swiss power base also keeps them free from scrutiny.

“In Swiss tax terms they are considered no more than an amateur yodelling society, so they don’t pay any taxes,” he said.

“If you have a good ethical set of people running it, then it’s great…the money can be spent around.

“But there are so many angles in there that allow you to do what you want, to cheat. It’s a nonprofit making organisation, so nobody ever looks at their books.

“I remember once asking Blatter what he earned, as it was important if I was going to serve on his committee.

“He just told me that under Swiss law, I had no right or need to know.

“I said to him many times, ‘If you look after the game money will follow you but if you look after the money, you will kill the game’. That has always been my belief, but it meant nothing to him. A lot of people see the game as a cash cow to be milked, and unfortunately that it what you are seeing now.”

Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, of Trinidad and Tobago, was among those arrested. He is accused of taking a £6.5m bung from South Africa’s government for the 2010 World Cup. He denies the charges.

In 2007 Warner who was pictured last week partying the night away shortly after his arrest branded McBeth a racist after he suggested African and Caribbean nations had different ethics from the British “fair play” attitude.

In the politically-charged world of Fifa, Warner occupied the moral high ground and McBeth, who made his unguarded comments at a press conference, had nowhere to move.

“It was an easy card to play,” he recalls. “Do I feel vindicated now? I look at what’s happening and I am glad I am out of it.

“The first inkling I got about how Warner operated was when he asked for money due to the Trinidad Football Association for a friendly played at Easter Road to be paid to him personally.

“When I told him that wasn’t way we operated he went to our accountant and tried again. At the end when I was forced out, I was disappointed I became the story and didn’t get the chance to expose and root out corruption.”

On Friday Blatter, 79, was re-elected for the fifth time despite Fifa’s name being dragged through the gutter and threats of a European boycott the World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

McBeth said he wasn’t surprised with the outcome. “The only way it will change is if Uefa unite and take a stand,” he said.