Chuck Blazer
{{Short description|American soccer administrator}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Chuck Blazer
|image = ChuckBlazer.jpg
|image_upright =
|caption =
|alt =
|birth_name = Charles Gordon Blazer{{cite book|last=Jennings|first=Andrew|title=Foul! : the secret world of FIFA ; bribes, vote rigging and ticket scandals|year=2007|publisher=HarperSport|location=London|isbn=9780007208692|page=138|edition=[Updated ed.].}}
|birth_date = {{birth date|1945|4|26}}
|birth_place = New York City, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|7|12|1945|4|26}}
|death_place = New Jersey, U.S.
|alma_mater = New York University
|occupation = Soccer administrator
|years_active = 1990–2013
|organization =
- FIFA Executive Committee (1996–2013)
- CONCACAF General Secretary (1990–2011)
- U.S. Soccer Federation Executive Vice President
|known_for = Lead informant in the 2015 FIFA corruption case
|criminal_charge = Income tax evasion, money laundering, racketeering, and wire fraud{{cite news|last1=Longman|first1=Jeré|last2=Ruiz|first2=Rebecca R.|title=Chuck Blazer, Central Figure in FIFA Scandal, Dies at 72|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/sports/soccer/chuck-blazer-central-figure-in-fifa-scandal-dies-at-72.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&referer=|accessdate=July 13, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 13, 2017 }}
|criminal_penalty = $1.9 million restitution, lifetime ban from FIFA{{cite news|title=Former FIFA ExCo member turned whistleblower Chuck Blazer dies at 72|url=http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/story/3156894/former-fifa-exco-member-chuck-blazer-has-died-at-age-72|date=July 13, 2017|work=ESPNFC.com|publisher=AP}}
|criminal_status = Guilty
|spouse =
|children =
}}
Charles Gordon Blazer (April 26, 1945 – July 12, 2017) was an American soccer administrator, who held a number of high level positions before becoming a government informant on widespread corruption within organized soccer and subsequently being banned by FIFA in 2015. He was a FIFA Executive Committee member from 1996 to 2013, the CONCACAF general secretary from 1990 to 2011, and executive vice president of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
In 2013, Blazer admitted to conspiring with other FIFA executive committee members to accept bribes in conjunction with the failed bid of Morocco and the successful bid of South Africa to become World Cup hosts in 1998 and 2010, respectively. His admissions came during testimony given at a sealed sentencing proceeding in a New York federal court.{{cite news|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/450231/download|title=The United States of America against Chuck Blazer|date=2015-06-02|agency=U.S. Department of Justice|accessdate=June 3, 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/32998735|title=Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking|first=Nick|last=Bryant |work=BBC News|date=June 4, 2015|accessdate=July 13, 2017}}
Early life
Blazer grew up in a middle-class New York City Jewish family in the borough of Queens, where his father ran a stationery and newspaper shop.{{cite news|title=Chuck Blazer, insider who touched off soccer scandal, dead at 72|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/chuck-blazer-insider-who-touched-off-soccer-scandal-dead-at-72/|accessdate=July 13, 2017|work=Times of Israel|date=July 13, 2017}} He attended Forest Hills High School and then took an accountancy degree at New York University. After graduating, he enrolled at NYU's Stern School of Business but did not complete his MBA.Papenfuss, Mary & Thompson, Teri, "American Huckster How Chuck Blazer got Rich From—And Sold Out—The Most Powerful Cabal in World Sports," Harper Collins, 2016, pp 12-15 He then spent a number of years selling promotional and marketing items; a first success was supplying buttons for the Smiley craze in the 1970s. When his son started playing youth soccer in Westchester County, New York, in 1976, Blazer started coaching the team even though he had never played the game. He is remembered as a skillful and active administrator, more interested in organizing than coaching. He advanced in youth soccer administration up to the Eastern New York State Soccer Association.
Career
In 1984, persuading Pelé to campaign for him, he was elected to the United States Soccer Federation as executive vice president in charge of international competition. In the next two years the US men's soccer team played 19 matches, having played only two in the two years before Blazer's election. While with U.S. soccer, Blazer played a central role in the decision to make the successful bid for the 1994 World Cup. Also during this time, the U.S. women's soccer team was formed. Blazer's position gave him a seat on the board of CONCACAF, where he met Jack Warner. In 1986, after failing to win re-election, he co-founded the American Soccer League, running it from his home.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/members/people=24681.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626095932/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/members/people=24681.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 26, 2011|title=Profile|publisher=FIFA|accessdate=March 16, 2011}} It lasted only two years, with Blazer being forced out by the owners who felt they had been kept in the dark about finances. He became president of the Miami Sharks, taking control of the finances, only to leave precipitously after five months in May 1989.{{cite web|last1=Bensinger |first1=Ken |title=Mr. Ten Percent: The Man Who Built — And Bilked — American Soccer |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/the-rise-and-fall-of-chuck-blazer-the-man-who-built-and-bilk |website=BuzzFeed.com|date=June 6, 2014 |publisher=BuzzFeed, Inc.|accessdate=June 5, 2015}}
In 1989, Blazer convinced Jack Warner to run for CONCACAF president. Blazer managed Warner's successful campaign and was then appointed General Secretary.{{cite web|last1=Rigg|first1=Zac Lee|title=Meet Chuck Blazer, the former FIFA bigwig whose cats had a Trump Tower apartment|url=http://fusion.net/story/140185/who-is-chuck-blazer-former-fifa-executive/|website=Fusion.net|publisher=Fusion Media Network, LLC|accessdate=May 28, 2015|archive-date=May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529091104/http://fusion.net/story/140185/who-is-chuck-blazer-former-fifa-executive/|url-status=dead}} He was the General Secretary of CONCACAF from 1990 until 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7067775/whistleblower-chuck-blazer-resigning-no-2-concacaf-post|title=Whistleblower Chuck Blazer resigning from No. 2 CONCACAF post|work=ESPN.com|access-date=July 13, 2017}} He was a member of the FIFA Executive Committee from 1996 to April 2013, when Sunil Gulati was elected to replace him.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/president/presidentcolumn/newsid=2066365|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228013906/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/president/presidentcolumn/newsid=2066365/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 28, 2014|title=President's Column: April 2013|accessdate=May 20, 2013|publisher=FIFA}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-concacaf-fifa-idUSBRE93I18120130419|title=US's Gulati elected to FIFA executive committee|accessdate=May 20, 2013|publisher=REUTERS|date=April 19, 2013}}
Corruption allegations and conviction
{{See also|2015 FIFA corruption case}}
In May 2011, in response to allegations of bribery made by national representatives attending a May 10 meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), Blazer initiated an investigation of AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam and FIFA Vice President Jack Warner. The investigation was conducted by John P. Collins, former United States federal prosecutor and FIFA Legal Committee member. Its submission led to FIFA's May 29, 2011, suspension of Warner and Bin Hammam from all soccer activities, pending the outcome of FIFA's own investigation and procedures.[http://repeatingislands.com/2011/05/31/bahamian-whistle-blower-is-applauded-for-exposing-fifa-scandal Bahamian Whistle Blower Applauded, Repeating Islands], repeatingislands.com, May 31, 2011{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/news/newsid=1443230/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626095943/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/news/newsid=1443230/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 26, 2011|title=Two members of the FIFA Executive Committee provisionally suspended|date=May 29, 2011|work=FIFA.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.indiatvnews.com/sports/soccer/FIFA_Probes_bin_Hammam_Warner_For_Bribery-139.html|title=FIFA Probes bin Hammam, Warner For Bribery|work=India TV News|date=May 26, 2011}} Acting CONCACAF president Lisle Austin attempted to fire Blazer five days later, but the action was blocked by the CONCACAF executive committee.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/8549155/Concacaf-acting-president-Lisle-Austin-fires-general-secretary-Chuck-Blazer.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505100500/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/8549155/Concacaf-acting-president-Lisle-Austin-fires-general-secretary-Chuck-Blazer.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 5, 2013|title=Concacaf acting president Lisle Austin fires general secretary Chuck Blazer|date=May 31, 2011|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}}Associated Press, "CONCACAF stymies attempt to fire Blazer", Japan Times, June 2, 2011, p. 18. On June 15, 2011, Blazer was questioned by the FIFA Ethics Committee.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13774179.stm|title=Fifa questions Blazer after letter of complaint|date=June 15, 2011|accessdate=June 15, 2011|publisher=BBC Sport}}
On August 14, 2011, journalist Andrew Jennings noted in the British newspaper The Independent that the FBI was examining documentary evidence revealing confidential soccer payments to offshore accounts operated by Blazer.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/fbi-investigates-secret-payments-to-fifa-whistleblower-2337260.html|title=FBI investigates secret payments to Fifa whistleblower|accessdate=August 16, 2011|date=June 14, 2011|work=The Independent|location=London, UK|first=Andrew|last=Jennings}} Blazer began working undercover for the FBI in December 2011.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33145539|title=BBC Sport - Chuck Blazer secretly co-operated with Fifa investigation from 2011|work=BBC Sport|accessdate=July 13, 2017}}
On April 19, 2013, Blazer and Jack Warner were accused of massive fraud during their years as CONCACAF executives. A forensic audit by the organization's Integrity Committee determined that both men had functioned without a written contract from 1998 until their respective departures, and that Blazer had received US$15 million in commissions for his services during that timeframe.{{cite web|url=http://www.insideworldfootball.com/world-football/central-north-america/12369-audit-slays-concacafs-one-time-dynamic-duo|title=Audit slays CONCACAFs one-time dynamic duo|author=Paul Nicholson|work=insideworldfootball.com|accessdate=May 27, 2015|archive-date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510011159/http://www.insideworldfootball.com/world-football/central-north-america/12369-audit-slays-concacafs-one-time-dynamic-duo|url-status=dead}} An anonymous government source expected that an ongoing FBI investigation into Blazer's finances would be expanded significantly and joined by the IRS.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/soccer/2013/04/22/jack-warner-chuck-blazer-fbi|title=Jack Warner, Chuck Blazer face likely legal cases, FBI probe|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=April 22, 2013|accessdate=June 6, 2015}} In May 2013, Blazer was suspended for 90 days.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22428381|title=Fifa's Chuck Blazer suspended over 'fraudulent' claims|date=May 6, 2013|publisher=BBC Sport}}
On November 1, 2014, it was reported (by the New York Daily News[http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/soccer/soccer-rat-ex-u-s-soccer-exec-chuck-blazer-fbi-informant-article-1.1995761 "Soccer Rat! The inside story of how Chuck Blazer, ex-U.S. soccer executive and FIFA bigwig, became a confidential informant for the FBI," Teri Thompson, Mary Papenfuss, Christian Red, Nathaniel Vinton, NY Daily News 1 Nov 2014]) that Blazer had been a confidential informant for the FBI and the IRS, and recorded key meetings between executives for FIFA and for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Blazer was compelled to inform for the FBI and IRS after they uncovered more than a decade of unpaid taxes on hidden, multimillion-dollar incomes.[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/chuck-blazer-a-soccer-bon-vivant-laid-low.html "Chuck Blazer, a Soccer Bon Vivant Laid Low"], nytimes.com, May 27, 2015. On May 27, 2015, several FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich, with Blazer having been a key cooperating witness in the investigation that led to the arrests.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/chuck-blazer-reportedly-informed-fbi-in-fifa-investigation-2015-5|title=Chuck Blazer reportedly informed FBI in FIFA investigation|date=May 27, 2015|accessdate=July 13, 2017|work=Business Insider}} In exchange for his cooperation, Blazer agreed to plead guilty to charges that include racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion, and money laundering.{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Andrew|title=Former Westchester Soccer Dad at Core of Sprawling FIFA Scandal|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/former-westchester-soccer-dad-at-core-of-sprawling-fifa-scandal|website=Bloomberg.com|date=May 27, 2015|accessdate=July 13, 2017}} Blazer died before being sentenced. The delay in sentencing was caused by the decisions of his co-defendants to go to trial.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/sports/soccer/chuck-blazer-central-figure-in-fifa-scandal-dies-at-72.html?_r=0|title=Chuck Blazer, Central Figure in FIFA Scandal, Dies at 72|date=July 13, 2017|work=The New York Times}}
On June 3, 2015, the transcript of a closed sentencing proceeding (which occurred in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on November 25, 2013) was unsealed and made public.{{cite web|title=Transcript in 1:13-cr-00602-RJD|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2093153/blazer.pdf|accessdate=June 3, 2015}} In his 2013 testimony, Blazer admitted to conspiring with other FIFA Executive Committee members to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of 1998 and 2010 World Cup hosts. On July 9, 2015, Blazer received a lifetime ban from FIFA from all soccer-related activity.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33458803|title=Chuck Blazer: FIFA imposes life ban from football on former member|publisher=BBC Sport|date=July 9, 2015|accessdate=July 14, 2017}}
Personal life
Blazer was married from 1965 to 1995.{{cite news|last1=Papenfuss|first1=Mary|last2=Thompson|first2=Teri|title=The Soap Opera Actress Who Captured Chuck Blazer's Heart|url=https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/vvwevx/the-soap-opera-actress-who-captured-chuck-blazers-heart|accessdate=July 13, 2017|work=Vice Sports}}
Death
Blazer died on July 12, 2017, of colorectal cancer at a New Jersey hospital at the age of 72.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/NYTSports/status/885315276203585536|title=Lawyer for Chuck Blazer confirms his death|date=July 12, 2017|website=@NYTSports|accessdate=July 13, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/JeffreyCarlisle/status/885319317679620096|title=US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati confirmed to ESPN FC via email that Chuck Blazer passed away.|last=Carlisle|first=Jeff|date=July 12, 2017|website=@JeffreyCarlisle|accessdate=July 13, 2017}} At the time of his death, he also had coronary artery disease and diabetes.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/chuck-blazer-who-touched-off-soccer-scandal-dead-at-72/2017/07/12/1e387a80-6777-11e7-94ab-5b1f0ff459df_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215131703/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/chuck-blazer-who-touched-off-soccer-scandal-dead-at-72/2017/07/12/1e387a80-6777-11e7-94ab-5b1f0ff459df_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2018|title=Chuck Blazer, who touched off soccer scandal, dead at 72|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=July 12, 2017|date=July 12, 2017|author=Ronald Blum}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Blogspot|chuckblazer|Official page}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blazer, Chuck}}
Category:American people convicted of tax crimes
Category:American whistleblowers
Category:American white-collar criminals
Category:American people convicted of mail and wire fraud
Category:People convicted of money laundering
Category:People convicted of racketeering
Category:People from Queens, New York
Category:Jewish American sports executives and administrators
Category:New York University Stern School of Business alumni
Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in New Jersey