SWISS PROSECUTORS TO BEGIN INVESTIGATION OF BLATTER.

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into
Sepp Blatter, the head of world soccer body, FIFA.
He is being investigated on suspicion of criminal
mismanagement and misappropriation, the Swiss attorney
general’s office said on Friday.
It said Blatter was interrogated after a meeting of FIFA’s
executive committee in Zurich, and authorities carried out a
search at FIFA headquarters on Friday.
“The office of the FIFA President has been searched and
data seized,” the office of the attorney general (OAG) said
in a statement.
U.S. and Swiss authorities announced in May they were
investigating corruption at the highest levels of the world’s
most popular sport, including in the awarding of the 2018
and 2022 world cups to Russia and Qatar.
Fourteen soccer officials and sports marketing executives
were indicted at that time, but until Friday authorities had
not pointed the finger at Blatter, the 79-year-old Swiss who
has run FIFA since 1998.
He has denied wrongdoing.
Blatter was questioned by the OAG’s representatives, and
Michel Platini, the former French soccer star who runs
European soccer body UEFA, was also asked to give
information, the statement said.
Platini is favourite to win the election to replace Blatter
when he steps down in February.
A Swiss law enforcement source said that Platini had
provided Swiss prosecutors with evidence against Blatter
and was not regarded as a target of investigators at this
point.
The source said that Swiss prosecutors were also in touch
with several other witnesses at various levels of FIFA and
its affiliates who have expressed interest in giving evidence
about corruption in the organisation.
Swiss investigators have been putting together their case
against Blatter for some time, a law enforcement official
said.
The official said Blatter was not in custody and was free to
travel, though he has largely avoided leaving Switzerland
since May.
The OAG statement said that Blatter was suspected of a
“disloyal payment” of two million Swiss francs (2.05 million
dollars) to Platini at the expense of FIFA, allegedly made for
work performed between January 1999 and June 2002.
The payment was executed in February 2011, the OAG said.
According to the Swiss criminal code, Blatter could, if
convicted, face a custodial sentence of up to five years
depending on the circumstances of the offense.
A spokeswoman for U.S. prosecutors declined to comment
on news of the Swiss investigation.
Blatter has survived a series of scandals during his term in
office including widespread accusations that Qatar bought
the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar has always denied any wrongdoing.
Despite widespread calls for Blatter’s resignation when the
U.S. indictments were issued in May, accompanied by a
series of arrests, he refused to withdraw his candidacy for
another term at the helm of FIFA.
He was duly re-elected, telling delegates: “Football needs a
strong and experienced leader.”
As the scandal reverberated around the world and his
position became untenable, he announced only days later
that he would step down, though for the time being he
remains in office until the election of his successor.
“FIFA has been my life … what counts most for me is FIFA
and football around the world,” he said at the time.
(Reuters/NAN