The FIFA corruption thread

Fifa suspect Eugenio Figueredo faces extradition to US

Switzerland says it has approved the extradition of a Uruguayan football official accused of taking bribes.

Eugenio Figueredo was one of seven officials with Fifa, world football's governing body, who were arrested in Zurich on 27 May.

He is accused of receiving bribes worth millions of dollars relating to Copa America tournaments, Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice said.

He has 30 days to appeal against his extradition to the US.

Mr Figueredo is a former vice-president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) and was a vice-president of Fifa.

The Swiss statement said he is accused of:

Taking bribes from a Uruguayan sports marketing company over the sale of marketing rights to the Copa America tournaments in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023
Gaining US citizenship "fraudulently by submitting forged medical reports in 2005 and 2006"
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Rest at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34282632
 
Fifa secretary Jerome Valcke suspended

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke has been put on leave and released from his duties until further notice.

A Fifa statement said it had "been made aware of a series of allegations involving the secretary general".

Newspaper allegations on Thursday implicated Valcke, 54, in a scheme to sell World Cup tickets for above face value.

The Frenchman, who is said to deny the allegations, has been in his role at Fifa since 2007.

Fifa has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since May, when Swiss police raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested seven of its top executives.

President Sepp Blatter announced that he would stand down just days after winning re-election in June.
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http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34286208
 
Valcke denies 'fabricated' allegations

New York - Jerome Valcke denies "fabricated and outrageous" allegations that led to his suspension as FIFA secretary general, his US-based lawyer said in a statement Thursday.

"Jerome Valcke unequivocally denies the fabricated and outrageous accusations by Benny Alon of alleged wrongdoing in connection with the sale of World Cup tickets," a statement from New York attorney Barry Berke said.

Valcke, 54, had been accused of taking kickbacks by Alon over a deal with FIFA to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup
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Rest at http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/Valcke-denies-fabricated-allegations-20150918
 
Valcke's reign at Fifa likely to be at an end

MIAMI - For the second time in his career, Jerome Valcke leaves Fifa with a cloud hanging over him.

Sepp Blatter’s lieutenant for the past eight years, Valcke became the highest profile figure in the corruption-plagued organization to fall during the current series of scandals when he was “released from his duties” on Thursday and it appears unlikely he will return.

The Frenchman has not been formally dismissed but Blatter is standing down in February and Valcke had already suggested he would probably go at that time as well.
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Rest at http://ewn.co.za/2015/09/18/Valckes-reign-at-FIFA-likely-to-be-at-an-end
 
Breaking news

Swiss authorities have opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter for criminal mismanagement.

Michel Platini has also been questioned.
 
Sepp Blatter faces criminal proceedings in Switzerland

he Swiss Attorney General has announced criminal proceedings have been opened against FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The prosecutors' office issued a statement saying Blatter is suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal he signed with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005.

He is also suspected of "a disloyal payment" of two million Swiss francs (£1.35m) to UEFA president Michel Platini - who is the favourite to succeed him - in 2011.

Blatter was interrogated following a meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee in Zurich on Friday, when Platini was also asked to provide information. Blatter's office at FIFA's headquarters was also searched and data seized.

A statement from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) read: "Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr Joseph Blatter, have been opened on 24 September 2015 on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and - alternatively - misappropriation.

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 unfavourable 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 CHF 2 Mio. 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.
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More at http://www.skysports.com/football/n...ter-faces-criminal-proceedings-in-switzerland
 
Fifa: Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini investigated by ethics committee

Fifa president Sepp Blatter and European football chief Michel Platini are facing an investigation by Fifa's ethics committee.

The move comes after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, 79.

He is accused of signing a contract "unfavourable" to football's governing body and making a "disloyal payment" to Uefa president Platini, 60.

Blatter denies wrongdoing and his lawyer says he is co-operating fully.
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More at http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34371697
 
Blatter will remain FIFA president

Lausanne - Sepp Blatter insisted on Monday that he would stay on as the body's president, his lawyer said, as UEFA chief Michel Platini revealed a payment made to him from Blatter had been "fully declared" to authorities.

The head of world football's governing body said he would remain in his position while cooperating with criminal proceedings opened against him by Swiss prosecutors.

He also defended a payment of $2.05 million made in 2011 to Platini, which investigators say may have been "disloyal" to FIFA.

"President Blatter spoke to FIFA staff today and informed the staff that he was cooperating with the authorities, reiterated that he had done nothing illegal or improper and stated that he would remain as president of FIFA," Blatter's US-based lawyer Richard Cullen said in a statement.

In a meeting with Swiss investigators on Friday, Blatter said the payments to Platini were "valid compensation and nothing more and were properly accounted for within FIFA", said Cullen, who is based in the US state of Virginia.
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More at http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/Blatter-will-remain-FIFA-president-20150928
 
Blatter & Platini insist nothing wrong with questioned payment

ZURICH – Fifa president Sepp Blatter and the man who aims to replace him, UEFA chief Michel Platini, both insisted on Monday there was nothing untoward about a 2 million Swiss franc payment at the centre of fresh corruption allegations.

Swiss prosecutors said on Friday they had opened a criminal investigation into Blatter, the long-time head of Fifa, world soccer’s governing body, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.

Blatter denies any wrongdoing and on Monday told Fifa staff that he has no intention of quitting as a result of the investigation.

The prosecutors said Blatter was suspected of a “disloyal payment” of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.05 million) to Platini in 2011 at the expense of Fifa, allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002. They did not say why the payment was "disloyal" or what became of the money.

Both leaders said on Monday the payment was legitimate compensation for work done but neither offered an explanation for why Platini was not paid until nine years after finishing his spell as a paid advisor to Blatter.
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Rest at http://ewn.co.za/2015/09/29/Blatter-and-Platini-insist-nothing-wrong-with-questioned-payment
 
FIFA, UEFA unaware of Platini deal

Berlin - FIFA and UEFA were never told about a payment of around $2 million to UEFA president Michel Platini, the former head of the European football body Lennart Johansson has said

Johannson is quoted as saying by the website Inside World Football Tuesday the payment to Platini from FIFA president Joseph Blatter was not declared by Blatter to FIFA's executive committee or disclosed to the UEFA executive committee.

Johannson also questioned the timing of the payment in February 2011 for work said to have been carried out between 1999 and 2002. Platini did not stand against Blatter in the election for FIFA president that year. UEFA backed Blatter, who was being challenged by Asian confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Asked whether the payment was a bribe, Johansson is quoted as saying: "It must be. I mean that's exactly what it points at. Why should he have money paid at that moment, at that time of the year, and then not reporting it to the UEFA executive? He is the UEFA president."

Platini and Blatter have been provisionally suspended for 90 days by FIFA's ethics committee, with Blatter under criminal investigation by Swiss prosecutors who are probing the payment to Platini.

Both Blatter and Platini have denied any wrongdoing.

Swede Johansson, 85, who was UEFA president from 1990 to 2007, said the FIFA executive committee, which he served on, was not told about Platini's work for Blatter.

"I was a member of the FIFA executive then and Blatter should have reported it to the executive but he never did. I never heard about this arrangement in FIFA," he said.

"This is quite a lot of money, not a small amount. I have only learnt through the media that Platini claims that he has a contract with FIFA."

Johansson said "Platini should have mentioned it" to the UEFA executive.

"I would have done so. I would have said to the executive, 'I have a contract with Blatter which you may criticise. But this is the truth, this is the money I received and you should know about it', " he said.

UEFA's 54 member associations will meet in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday to discuss developments in the affair.

Platini is hoping to succeed Blatter as FIFA president at an extraordinary FIFA congress in Zurich on February 26 but is coming under increasing pressure as a result of the Swiss criminal investigation into Blatter.

UEFA executive committee member Allan Hansen, the former head of the Danish Football Association, has told Danish media if Platini cannot prove the payment was legitimate he "can no longer support him."

DPA
Source
http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/FIFA-UEFA-unaware-of-Platini-deal-20151013
 
Fifa rejects Blatter, Platini’s appeal over 90-day ban

CAPE TOWN - Suspended Fifa President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini have had their appeals against provisional 90-day bans rejected by a Fifa’s appeals committee.

This relates to a payment Platini received for consultancy work that forms the focus of an allegation of a corrupt relationship between the two.

The two men, who are among the most powerful figures in the world of football, will have to go to the highest authority possible, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, if they are to have their current bans overturned.
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More at: http://ewn.co.za/2015/11/18/Fifa-rejects-Blatter--Platinis-appeals-over-90-day-bans
 
Fifa seeking life ban for Platini, say his lawyers

PARIS - Michel Platini, who hopes to become head of world soccer’s governing body Fifa, could face a life ban from the sport over a payment he received from Fifa head Sepp Blatter, a spokesman for the Frenchman’s lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.

A probe into the two million Swiss franc payment from Fifa to Uefapresident Platini in 2011 forms part of a broader corruption scandal shaking the world soccer body.

Meanwhile, Fifa’s ethics judges said on Monday they were aiming to decide the fate of suspended Blatter and Platini, by the end of December, following an investigation into graft allegations.
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More at: http://ewn.co.za/2015/11/24/Fifa-seeking-life-ban-for-Platini-say-his-lawyers
 
Fifa arrests: High-ranking officials detained at Zurich hotel

Two "high-ranking" Fifa officials have been arrested in dawn raids at a Swiss hotel on suspicion of accepting millions of dollars of bribes.

Police swooped on the luxury Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, where several Fifa officials were arrested in May.

A two-day meeting of Fifa's executive committee is taking place in the city to vote on reforms.

"Fifa became aware of the actions taken today by the US Department of Justice," football's world governing body said.

"Fifa will continue to co-operate fully with the US investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General.

"Fifa will have no further comment on today's developments."
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More at:http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34991874
 
Michel Platini: Uefa president loses suspension appeal

Uefa president Michel Platini has failed in his bid to have his 90-day provisional ban from football lifted.

Platini's request was denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which means the Frenchman will not be allowed to attend the Euro 2016 finals draw in Paris on Saturday.

The 60-year-old was suspended in October, along with Fifa president Sepp Blatter, while corruption claims are investigated.

Both deny any wrongdoing.
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More at:http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35069511
 
FIFA court to hear Blatter, Platini cases

Zurich - A FIFA court on Thursday starts hearing the cases of suspended world football president Sepp Blatter and his deputy Michel Platini on corruption charges.

Blatter has said he will defend himself before the FIFA ethics judges on Thursday though he has described the world body's ethics commission as "the inquisition."

Frenchman Platini, also the head of UEFA, has said he will boycott his hearing on Friday insisting the case has been decided in advance. His lawyers say FIFA investigators have called for a life ban.

Blatter is under criminal investigation in Switzerland over a $2 million payment that FIFA made to Platini in 2011. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

With FIFA roiling from corruption scandals being investigated by US and Swiss authorities, this case has stopped Platini from pursuing his bid to take over from Blatter as FIFA president in an election in February.

A verdict in the cases is expected to be given as early as next Monday. More appeals, including to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, are then likely.
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More at:http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/International/fifa-court-to-hear-blatter-platini-cases-20151217
 
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