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FIFA scandal no surprise for Australian whistle-blower

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Bonita Mersiades, a prominent activist for change in global soccer governance, might be expected to be feeling more than a little vindicated following this week's arrests of high-ranking FIFA officials in Zurich. Mersiades was the head of communications for Australia's bid to host the 2022 World Cup and offered evidence in FIFA's probe into the bidding process for that tournament, which was awarded to Qatar, and the 2018 finals, which went to Russia. Rather than being commended for her courage, Mersiades' reliability as a witness was questioned and her evidence dismissed in a summary of the investigation released by Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert of FIFA's ethics committee six months ago. This week, though, U.S. authorities indicted over a dozen soccer, media and promotions officials on corruption charges, while Swiss authorities announced a separate probe into the two bidding processes -- re-opening a book FIFA has tried in vain to close. The developments, though intriguing, have been no surprise for Mersiades, nor for other activists, authors and journalists she said had been unfairly dismissed. "I know I've always been telling the truth, it's about what I know," she told Reuters by phone on Friday, ahead of FIFA's presidential ballot which pits embattled incumbent Sepp Blatter against Jordan's Prince Ali bin al Hussein. "It's about the FIFA environment. Quite clearly this type of behavior had been going of for decades," she said of the bribery allegations. "The issue that I have been advocating for some time is reform of FIFA. "That (behavior) is what many people have been focusing on for years and trying to change. Some of those people have been dismissed, called discredited morons. "I give no apology for wanting the game run to the highest standards of transparency and accountability." Mersiades has been a prominent critic of Blatter's leadership and applauded Australia's stand in supporting Prince Ali's candidacy, which has put the country at odds with fellow nations in the Asian Football Confederation. Senior AFC officials said the 47-member confederation would continue to back Blatter as unified bloc despite the arrests that have undermined his leadership. Mersiades, along with local lawmaker Nick Xenophon, has also written to Australia's federal police (AFP) requesting they investigate a payment of A$500,000 ($382,600.00) made by Football Federation Australia during the 2022 bid process. MISAPPROPRIATED The FFA said the 2010 payment, which came from the A$45 million the Australian government poured into the bid, was intended for a soccer facility in Trinidad and Tobago. An investigation by CONCACAF, the regional governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, later claimed it had been misappropriated by Jack Warner in 2013. Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner is one of the men charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150 million in bribes. The AFP on Friday were considering whether to investigate the payment. The FFA has repeatedly denied any impropriety with the payment and insisted its bid was clean. Mersiades left Australia's bid team a year before the controversial 2011 ballot for the 2018 and 2022 finals. Eckert's summary criticized Australia's bid and said two of its consultants violated bidding and ethics rules, while raising "indications" of attempts to divert funds to countries with ties to voting FIFA executive members. Mersiades declined to comment on whether further investigations were needed into Australia's bid but was adamant about Warner's involvement. "If Jack Warner has received money that he shouldn't have, then that needs to be returned," she said. ($1 = 1.3068 Australian dollars) (Editing by Nick Mulvenney)