The Swiss government has opened a criminal investigation against disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, tied in part to alleged payments he made to another soccer official in 2011.
Blatter, who resigned from his perch atop the world soccer governing body in June, is being investigated by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and suspicion of misappropriation. The charges are tied to a contract he signed with the Caribbean Football Union, headed by former FIFA official Jack Warner at the time, that it claims was “unfavorable for FIFA.” In addition, the OGA claims Blatter is suspected of making a “disloyal payment” of 2 million Swiss francs (about $2.04 million) to UEFA president Michel Platini “at the expense of FIFA, which was allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002.” The OAG said the payment was executed in February 2011.
Warner, a former FIFA vice president and former president of the CONCACAF, the body that governs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, was indicted along with several other FIFA officials as part of the bribery scandal that rocked soccer’s world governing body in May when U.S. officials raided a hotel in Zurich. Platini is one of several world soccer officials that have thrown their hat into the ring to replace Blatter.
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