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In an article Kuwait Conspiracy 2.0 from 2018, Norwegian journalist Andreas Selliaas described an unusual behaviour of Slovenian sports officials in the defence of the Kuwaiti Sports Federation, suspected corruption in sports, and other practices unworthy of sports. He also reveals the friendly connection between FIFA official Tomaž Vesel and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. Selliaas is a sports journalist investigating corruption in sports.
We reveal new details about the President of the Court of Audit Tomaž Vesel. A few days ago, the Slovenian public was surprised by the facts from German and Swiss media about the disclosure of 246 thousand euros of annual gross salary for “afternoon work” at the International Football Association (FIFA). He took the position in 2016. In addition, Norwegian sports investigative journalist Andreas Selliaas and journalists from the Norwegian football portal Josimar pointed out the close connections between UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and Tomaž Vesel. In one of the paragraphs in the Kuwaiti Conspiracy 2.0, it is written that Vesel was heavily involved in the quadrangle FIFA, UEFA, the Football Association of Slovenia, and the Football Association of Norway. “Part of this story is also the new head of the audit and compliance committee at FIFA, Tomaž Vesel, who is also a Slovene,” wrote Norwegian journalist Selliaas. He goes on to write that he and Josimar’s journalist experienced attacks by influential people in Slovenian football. Among other things, the godfathers of Slovenian football made sure that practically none of the insiders were available to Selliaas and Josimar journalist team to talk about Slovenian football. The story does not look innocent at all, as the journalist Selliaas described a large part of the segment about the conspiracy of influential Kuwaiti sports officials, which takes place in Slovenia. We sent our questions to Tomaž Vesel, but he did not give us his answers by the end of the editorial.
Selliaas was invited to a conference in Ljubljana in September 2016, organised by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia. So he found himself on the flight Zurich – Ljubljana. Čeferin knew about critical articles Selliaas was publishing, but as it seems he did not know how Selliaas looks like. The Norwegian journalist was surprised that Vesel and Čeferin talked as if they were best friends. “They both sat together in business class and talked happily throughout the trip,” writes the Scandinavian sports investigative journalist about Vesel and Čeferin.
Janez Kocijančič went crazy at the mention of Selliaas, he would have cancelled the conference
Andreas Sellias was invited to the conference organised by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia (OKS) to give a lecture on doping and corruption in international sports. He was surprised by the invitation as he together with Josimar’s journalists was very critical of influential football and other Slovenian sports officials. As Selliaas writes, their findings about Čeferin were summarised by the world-famous media BBC, CNN, ESPN, L’Equipe, Sky News, Suddeutche Zeitung in 2015.
Selliaas was promised by the OKS to present the Play the game project, which he has been presenting since 2008. However, a change in the event schedule took place on the day of the event. Janez Kocijančič was afraid of his lecture. A well-known sports official and influential businessman of the former regime held the position of President of the European Olympic Committee (EOC). At the time, an affair exploded in the world public about former EOC President Patrick Hickey, who was arrested during the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics for ticket resale. Kocijančič did not know that Selliaas would also be lecturing at the conference, but upon learning this fact, he wanted to cancel the entire conference. At the last moment, Kocijančič was calmed down by Miro Cerar, who found himself there as a guest in the function of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia.
Janez Kocijančič made every effort to cancel the conference. The current leadership of the Slovenian Olympic Committee prepared a conference where they wanted to reveal the involvement of Kuwaiti influencers in sports. One of the anti-corruption fighters in Kuwaiti sports was the president of the Kuwaiti Shooting Association, Sheikh Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibiom. He fought in Kuwait against the policies of the current sports policy maker, Ahmed Al-Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Both Selliaas and Al-Otabiom knew very well what the name of Janez Kocijančič meant in the sports world.
Kocijančič and Al-Ahmad Al-Sabaha, among others, strongly supported the captured Hickey. They both supported the Irishman and knew of his irregularities, but nevertheless took no action. Therefore, the question arises whether the former alpha and omega of Slovenian sport Kocijančič himself was not involved in indecency at the Summer Olympics in Brazil. And the Norwegian journalist would speak publicly about these indecencies in front of gathered eminent guests from abroad. As Kocijančič’s assistant, Tomaž Vesel’s task was to use his influence on UEFA President Aleksandar Čeferin and his job at FIFA to arrange to lift the suspension in FIFA for Kuwait. In 2017, FIFA lifted Kuwait’s suspension.
Influential FIFA officials sleep in the luxurious hotel Bar au Lac
Tomaž Vesel was supposed to spend the night in the luxury hotel Bar au Lac in Zurich. Apparently, influential FIFA officials often sleep there. We must not forget that the beginning of the end of the long-time ruler of the king of the world of football, Sepp Blatter, began right in this hotel. Football influencers were preparing for the 65th FIFA Congress, where they would also elect the FIFA President. However, their plans were thwarted by US law enforcement, on suspicion of receiving a $150 million bribe for choosing Qatar as the organiser of the 2022 World Cup. The arrests happened on May 27th, 2015. The World Cup is one of the most lucrative sporting events that brings more than $10 billion in net earnings to individual country.
Another interesting meeting took place in this hotel in 2015. According to Selliaas, the central role was played by a businessman from Paris, who acted as a mediator between the Kuwaiti authorities and the International Olympic Committee in order to resolve the situation so as to not exclude Kuwait from international sports organisations. And exactly this French businessman was among the decisive sources that helped Selliaas to investigate the unusual happenings in the International Shooting Association. Russian oligarchs, corrupt Mexican sports officials, and Kuwaiti conspirators were involved in this unusual case with the intention of seizing power in the homeland.
Despite some complications, Selliaas gave a lecture on sports corruption in twenty minutes. However, he felt very uncomfortable throughout the lecture. During his lecture, he was constantly filmed by members of the cabinet of the then Minister of Sports and influential Kuwaiti sheikh Ahmed Al-Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabaha. The sheikh was particularly interested in whether Selliaas would talk about the irregularities that were happening in Kuwaiti sports. Selliaas quickly realised that he was not welcome among the chosen sports, economic, and political elite in Ljubljana.
All Slovenian officials supported the Kuwaiti crooked business
The revealed Norwegian article about the Kuwaiti Shooting Federation and its links to influential sports official in FIFA, UEFA and the International Olympic Committee suggests that wealthy Kuwaiti sheikhs have been involved on all sides. The reaction of the late Janez Kocijančič, who wanted to cancel the whole event because of the Norwegian journalist Andreas Selliaas implies that the Norwegians inadvertently revealed the sports Kuwait-gate, which involved the late Janez Kocijančič, Aleksander Čefering, and Tomaž Vesel.
Step by step, Tomaž Vesel’s spider web of Slovenian influencers who are directly or indirectly connected to him is being revealed. One of the central figures of Vesel’s network is his long-time friend Aleksander Čeferin. We wrote in our media that Drago Kos did not get along with him and that he wanted to harm him by revealing his German adventure in Dnevnik newspaper. As it turns out, there is a big grain of truth in this information, as so far Kos has not denied this information to us. Former construction baron Ivan Zidar is the fourth person who could keep Vesel on a leash, due to Vesel’s actions in Germany. A common feature of the aforementioned quartet is a love of football. For many years, Ivan Zidar was the president of the Olimpija football club. Drago Kos was one of the best football referees and has at least been meeting Zidar at the football fields. Regarding Tomaž Vesel and Aleksandar Čeferin, the Norwegians revealed that they were supposed to be teammates in the same team.
A lot was discovered about Tomaž Vesel in a week. His high salary at the International Football Association for his “afternoon work” was revealed. As a member of the Football Association of Slovenia and in the function of the President of the Court of Audit, he covered for Aleksandar Čeferin when at least five million euros were irrationally spent in the construction of the National Football Center Brdo. However, Vesel was found in a clash of interests, as he should be in charge of controlling the use of public money as the President of the Court of Audit. During Vesel’s leadership at the Court of Audit, the Football Association of Slovenia received more than five million euros in taxpayers’ money. Do you still think that Tomaž Vesel is suitable for the position of President of the Court of Audit?
You can read the full article by Norwegian independent investigative journalist Andreas Selliaas HERE.