Switzerland Finally Makes An Important Distinction Between Public And Private Corruption


Corruption, the evil corrosive force that eats away public’s money has been rampant across the globe. Corrupt officials have been exploiting multiple loopholes within the laws and regulations to usurp money and getting away with it. However, Switzerland, home to many illustrious international sports bodies, has come down hard on a specific category of corruption; one that happens in the private sector.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs defines the corruption that takes place in two sectors of offices, public and private, as follows,

“In Switzerland, the giving and accepting of such advantages [referring to bribery] are only punishable when a Swiss public official is concerned.”

However, the cases of bribery or corruption reported from the private sector are handled in a very different manner, states Economic Affairs,

“Unlike the bribery of public officials, the bribery of private persons is pursued under criminal law only on complaint.”

The last portion happened after six long years of convincing the concerned government authorities to arrest the rampant corruption happening in the private sector.

Why is Switzerland so concerned about bribery in the private sector? This distinction affects the sports bodies based in Switzerland, including world soccer’s FIFA, European soccer’s UEFA, the International Olympic Committee and the International Cycling Federation. All these prestigious bodies have their headquarters based in Switzerland and it is quite shameful that all of them have been tainted by accusations of outright corruption, reported Le Point [in French].

On numerous occasions, these illustrious bodies have been openly accused of bending rules for a few companies or players and according them special treatment or priority preference. After so many years of collusion, Switzerland is finally signaling that it has had enough. Speaking openly about the same the Swiss Federal Council said,

“Many international sports federations [that] are based in Switzerland have had their decisions discredited repeatedly by corruption scandals. [Hence] private corruption while in office will be prosecuted and punished, even if it does not lead to competitive distortions.”

The Swiss are finally taking charge, owing to the leaked documents surrounding the 2022 FIFA World-Cup. The world-cup federation has chosen Qatar, a bustling Middle Eastern city that is in the middle of a sweltering desert. Britain’s Sunday Times (paywall) obtained millions of documents which allegedly proved that Qatari football official Mohamed Bin Hammam paid $5 million to football officials in return for their support for the Qatar bid to host the 2022 World Cup. An investigation into the allegations completed by FIFA hasn’t been made public, but Hammam has the dubious distinction of being banned from soccer for life—twice.

[Image Credit | Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters]

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