Sepp Blatter managed to avoid criminal charges in the United States Department of Justice’s initial FIFA sting, but he hasn’t gotten away from the FIFA scandal unscathed just yet. The Swiss Attorney General announced on Friday that they are beginning criminal proceedings against the current FIFA president.
Sepp Blatter under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities
Loretta Lynch hasn’t gotten to him yet, but the Swiss might.
Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images
The Swiss AG suspects Blatter of signing a contract with the Caribbean Football Union -- headed up by Jack Warner -- that he knew was unfavorable for FIFA. They claim that Blatter “violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of FIFA.”
It’s unsurprising that Blatter is believed to have done some shady stuff involving deals with Warner -- we more or less knew that, even if we weren’t sure if it was criminal. The real interesting tidbit in this statement from the Swiss Attorney General is the stuff about UEFA President Michel Platini.
Additionally, Mr. Joseph Blatter is suspected of a disloyal payment of CHF 2 Mio. to Michel Platini, President of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA...
Platini is the favorite to replace Blatter and has carried an anti-corruption image for a long time, so this is a bad look for him. He also voted for Qatar to be awarded the 2022 World Cup, so the shine is starting to come off him quite a bit.
The Swiss Attorney General has yet to file charges, and felt the need to close their statement with the reminder that “the presumption of innocence applies for Mr. Joseph Blatter.” Yes, even for him.
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