FA Chairman Balks at Returning Watch
If someone had gifted you with a fine luxury watch worth thousands of dollars you would understandably be reluctant to part with it but when you are the head of a world famous sporting organization and ethics forbid your accepting such a gift, you have a problem.
A few months ago during the FIFA World Cup the Brazilian Confederation presented 65 officials of FA, the organization behind the event, with custom Parmigiani watches worth £16,000 each ($24,400 USD and a total of more than £1m). This violates FIFA rules of ethics and the officials were ordered to return the pricey timepieces by October 24, 2014. Some watches have been given back but not all of them.
One of the holdouts is FA chairman Greg Dyke who claims he was unaware of the watch’s price tag and has so far refused to hand it over. Dyke would prefer to auction off the one-of-a-kind Parmigiani timepiece for the FA’s charity partner Breast Cancer Care and has already paid £3,000 in taxes on the watch. He is still in legal talks with FIFA and could face punishment for breaking the rules.
Back in November FIFA director Walter de Gregorio stated that Dyke was not going to be allowed to keep the watch under his own terms. “Giving something to charity is good,” de Gregorio told Sky Sports News, “but it is very clear what he has to do. The money (from sale of watches) goes to charities in Brazil. If Greg Dyke has another opinion, maybe he will face some problems.”
Like losing his job? Stay tuned because this brouhaha is far from over.
