Charlie Dempsey

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Charlie Dempsey
Born
Charles John Dempsey

(1921-03-04)4 March 1921
Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland
Died24 June 2008(2008-06-24) (aged 87)
New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
Known forAssociation Football (administrator)

Charles John Dempsey CBE (4 March 1921 – 24 June 2008) was a Scottish born New Zealand association football administrator who in July 2000 abstained from FIFA's final round of voting for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in a move which eventually saw the competition being awarded to Germany rather than South Africa.[1][2] He was once described the "Oceania's Flying Scotsman" at the 50th FIFA Congress in Zurich in August 1996.[3]

Dempsey said that he did not vote because of the "intolerable pressure" from supporters of the German and South African bids, and of the attempts that had been made to bribe him.[4] FIFA rejected calls for a new vote and opened an internal inquiry into the allegations of corruption.[5][6] He stood down from his role in September 2000 as he was unable to accept what had taken place over the days after the vote.[7][8]

Biography[]

Dempsey headed the Oceania Football Confederation from 1982 to 2000,[9][10] and eventually left his position at FIFA two years early.[11][12] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to association football,[13] and in February 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[14]

Dempsey served on the executive panel by FIFA from 1996 to 2000 and had been awarded the FIFA Order of Merit by May 2004.[15] He had no longer used his office in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) by February 2004, as he had stepped back at the beginning of the year.[16] Dempsey died on 24 June 2008 aged 87 or 86, according to some sources.[9][10] He was a builder and had emigrated with his wife to New Zealand in 1952. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Dempsey quizzed over abstention". BBC News Online. 7 July 2000. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Charlie Dempsey: A profile". BBC News Online. 7 July 2000. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  3. ^ ""Charlie" Dempsey - Oceania's Flying Scotsman". fifa.com. 10 August 1996. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Under-fire Fifa rep resigns". BBC News Online. 9 July 2000. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Dempsey: I was threatened". news.bbc.co.uk. 10 July 2000. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Independent inquiry finds that Germany may have paid over £10 million in bribes to stage the 2006 World Cup". telegraph.co.uk. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Dempsey's abstention culminates in resignation". espn.com. 9 July 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. ^ "PLUS: SOCCER; Dempsey Resigns FIFA Position". nytimes.com. 14 July 2000. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Dempsey dies, aged 86". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "South Africa 2006 vote man dies". BBC News Online. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Dempsey quits Fifa". BBC News Online. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  12. ^ "Dempsey resigns as Oceania president". theguardian.com. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  13. ^ "No. 49010". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1982. p. 40.
  14. ^ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 120. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  15. ^ "Dempsey congratulates SA". news.bbc.co.uk. 17 May 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Soccer: Charlie Dempsey says it's time to get out". nzherald.co.nz. 15 February 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  17. ^ Obituary: Popularising the Beautiful Game in Dominion Post, 3 July 2008 page B7
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