The Swiss attorney general has opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter in the heart of the Zurich HQ he has dominated as Fifa president for 17 years, as the continuing corruption crisis gripping world football took another dramatic turn.
The office of the attorney general said in a statement that it had interrogated Blatter following a meeting on Friday of the Fifa executive committee.
At the same time Michel Platini, the Uefa president who is hoping to replace him next year, was heard “as a person asked to provide information”.
Fifa HQ was also searched and data seized from Blatter’s office, causing a scheduled press conference to be cancelled amid fevered speculation.
The office of the Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, said: “On the one hand, the OAG suspects that on 12 September 2005 Mr. Joseph Blatter has signed a contract with the Caribbean Football Union [with Jack Warner as the President at this time]; this contract was unfavourable for Fifa. On the other hand, there is as suspicion that, in the implementation of this agreement, Joseph Blatter also violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of Fifa and/or Fifa Marketing & TV AG.”
That is believed to relate to the television contract unearthed by Swiss broadcasters that showed Blatter had agreed to sell TV rights to the disgraced former Fifa heavyweight Jack Warner at below the market rate.
“Additionally, Mr. Joseph Blatter is suspected of a disloyal payment of 2m Swiss francs to Michel Platini, president of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of Fifa, which was allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002 ; this payment was executed in February 2011.”
As the net has closed around Blatter, who has refused to travel to any countries with an extradition treaty with the US since the scandal broke, he has cut an increasingly remote figure.
“As for all defendants, the presumption of innocence applies for Mr Joseph Blatter,” said the Swiss attorney general. Blatter has always denied any wrongdoing.
His American lawyer Richard Cullen insisted “no mismanagement” had occurred. Cullen said in a statement: “Mr Blatter is co-operating and we are confident that when the Swiss authorities have a chance to review the documents and the evidence they will see that the contract was properly prepared and negotiated by the appropriate staff members of Fifa who were routinely responsible for such contracts, and certainly no mismanagement occurred.”
Lauber confirmed last week that his office was looking into the TV contract signed by Blatter and Warner as part of its wider investigation, which began as a probe into the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
In May, seven Fifa executives were arrested in the lobby of the Baur au Lac hotel as American prosecutors outlined charges of money laundering, racketeering and fraud against 14 individuals including nine high ranking football officials.
Of the 14 Fifa officials indicted in May, 13 have been arrested, of whom three have been charged in US courtrooms and 10 await extradition.
On Thursday, Fifa handed over emails from Blatter’s longstanding right-hand man, Jérôme Valcke, having blocked access even as the outgoing president pledged support for American and Swiss investigations of corruption.
Valcke was suspended last week in the wake of allegations that he had profited from World Cup tickets sold above face value. He denies the allegations.
Fifa said in a statement on Friday that it had been cooperating with the OAG since 27 May 2015 and “has complied with all requests for documents, data and other information. We will continue this level of cooperation throughout the investigation.
“Today, at the home of Fifa, representatives from the Office of the Swiss attorney general conducted interviews and gathered documents pursuant to its investigation. Fifa facilitated these interviews as part of our ongoing cooperation.”
