Switzerland Opens Legal Case Against Sepp Blatter, FIFA President

The Swiss prosecutor's office announced on Friday, September 24, that it has launched a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the FIFA Secretary-General, on suspicion of misconduct and abuse of power. According to the Swiss Attorney General's office, after the conclusion of the FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Zurich, prosecutors interrogated Mr. Blatter and inspected FIFA's headquarters in the city. Reuters reported that the Swiss prosecutor's office stated, "The FIFA Secretary-General's office has been inspected, and information has been seized from it." The U.S. and Swiss prosecutors announced in May this year that they were investigating allegations of financial corruption at high levels within FIFA, including the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Since then, 14 senior FIFA officials and affiliated commercial entities have been formally charged, but no charges had been brought against the Secretary-General of the organization until now. According to the Swiss prosecutor's statement, in addition to questioning Sepp Blatter, officials also asked questions of Michel Platini, the former star of French football and UEFA Secretary-General. Reuters adds that after Sepp Blatter's resignation in February next year, Michel Platini has a strong chance in the election for the next FIFA Secretary-General. In another part of the Swiss prosecutor's statement, it is mentioned that one of the suspicions regarding Blatter's management is a "illegal payment" of about two million dollars to Michel Platini for work done between January 1999 and June 2002. According to the prosecutor's office, this amount was paid in February 2011. Sepp Blatter, 79 years old and a Swiss citizen, has been FIFA's Secretary-General since 1998. He has repeatedly denied committing any wrongdoing. According to the Associated Press, FIFA also released a statement on Friday, stating that it has been cooperating with the Swiss prosecutor's office since May 27, 2015, responding positively to all requests for information and documents from this office and will continue this level of cooperation. FIFA confirmed in its statement the inspection of its headquarters in Zurich and added that prosecutors have interviewed several senior officials of the organization. At the end of this statement, it is mentioned that given the ongoing criminal investigations, FIFA prefers not to comment further on this issue.