the FIFA president is not guilty of mismanagement
after criminal charges were opened.
Sepp Blatter's lawyer has stressed that the FIFA president is not
guilty of any mismanagement after criminal proceedings were
opened against him on Friday by the Office of the Attorney
General of Switzerland (OAG).
The 79-year-old is suspected of signing a contract with the
Caribbean Football Union (CFU), then led by former FIFA
heavyweight Jack Warner, in 2005 that market experts
claim handed World Cup television rights for the 2010 event in
South Africa and the 2014 showpiece in Brazil to Warner for a
fraction of their value.
He is also accused of making a "disloyal payment" to UEFA
president Michel Platini in 2011 relating to work carried out by
the Frenchman between 1999 and 2002 when he was a 'special
advisor' to Blatter.
However, Blatter's legal representative has denied any
wrongdoing.
"Mr Blatter is cooperating and we're 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," Richard Cullen, a lawyer with McGuireWoods who is
representing Blatter, told The New York Times.
"Certainly no mismanagement occurred."
OAG interrogated Blatter after a meeting of the FIFA Executive
Committee in Zurich on Friday, while also conducting a house
search at the governing body's headquarters with the support of
the Federal Criminal Police.
"Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA,
Mr Joseph Blatter, have been opened on 24 September 2015 on
suspicion of criminal mismanagement (Article 158 Swiss
Criminal Code / SCC) and – alternatively – misappropriation
(Article 138 Swiss Criminal Code / SCC)," read a statement from
OAG.
"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 unfavorable 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.
"Additionally, Mr Joseph Blatter is suspected of a disloyal
payment of two million 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.
"On 25 September 2015, representatives of the OAG interrogated
the defendant Joseph Blatter following a meeting of the FIFA
Executive Committee. At the same time, Michel Platini was
heard as a person asked to provide information (Article 178 of
the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure).
"Furthermore, the OAG conducted on 25 September 2015 a
house search at FIFA Headquarters with the support of the
Federal Criminal Police. The office of the FIFA President has
been searched and data seized. As for all defendants, the
presumption of innocence applies for Mr Joseph Blatter."
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