Sepp Blatter, two others face new probe over salaries

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and ex-secretary general Jerome Valcke, already banned from football for ethics violations, are facing a fresh investigation, this time over the salaries and bonuses they received in office.

Fifa’s ethics committee said its investigators had opened formal proceedings against both men, along with former finance director Markus Kattner, for possible ethics violations which included “bribery and corruption”.

The suspected violations were “in the context of salaries and bonuses paid to Mr Blatter, Mr Valcke and Mr Kattner as well as other provisions included in the contracts of these three individuals,” it said.

They are also suspected of having breached rules on general conduct, loyalty, conflicts of interest and “offering and accepting gifts and other benefits.”

Blatter, Valcke and Kattner could not immediately be reached for comment. They have previously denied wrongdoing.

Soccer’s global governing body is attempting to recover from the worst graft scandal in its history which has seen 42 people indicted in the United States since May last year.

Criminal investigations are also under way in Switzerland, where Fifa has its headquarters.

Fifa said in June that an internal investigation revealed that the three officials had received 79 million Swiss francs in compensation over five years, calling them “massive payouts”.

Fifa’s lawyers Quinn Emanuel, which conducted the investigation, said the evidence revealed a coordinated effort by the three to “enrich themselves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses and other incentives.”

The sums received by the trio included 23 million Swiss francs in “special bonuses” for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while Blatter and Valcke got a total of 14 million francs in bonuses for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and 15.5 million francs for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the firm said.