FIFA Corruption and cover up at it's best

FIFA’s auditor KPMG totally missed the soccer scandal

who they fooling


Of all the individuals and firms tied up in the scandal over bribery and corruption at FIFA, so far scrutiny has largely escaped KPMG, the soccer association’s external auditor.

KPMG’s Swiss member is responsible not only for the audit of the multibillion dollar revenue umbrella FIFA organization, and has been since before the period under scrutiny by U.S. and Swiss prosecutors, but also audits of a large sample of member associations who receive FIFA funding around the world on an annual basis. KPMG also prepares a compilation of all financial reports after the completion of each four-year World Cup cycle.

Also read: Sepp Blatter to resign as FIFA president

KPMG was also the auditor and advisor for the Russia and Qatar official organizing committees when they prepared the winning bids that are now the target of corruption investigations in the U.S. and Switzerland. KPMG continues to support Russia’s organizing committee while Qatar switched to Ernst & Young in 2011.

A spokesman from KPMG declined to comment. “As FIFA’s statutory auditor, we are bound by professional confidentiality and have to refrain from any comment regarding our client.”

Robert Appleton, a former assistant United States Attorney, a special investigations counsel with Paul Volcker’s UN Iraqi Oil for Food Commission Investigation and the former chief of the United Nations Anti-Corruption Task Force, says KPMG absolutely should have caught, and called, out these alleged illegal activities.

“There were sufficient red flags of improper and highly suspicious payments as well as money transfers, to and from officials and others, including other highly questionable activities coupled with a history of similar issues, that should have been identified and that should have caused the auditors to highlight and report on them internally, and recommend further investigation. This is especially the case in light of the recent history of this organization, where recent investigations already had found bribery and corruption activity,” Appleton said.