Fifa biggies in dock

Zurich: The FIFA scandal on Friday engulfed Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, the two most powerful figures in world football with Swiss prosecutors investigating an illegal two million dollar payment from Blatter to the French legend.

 

Swiss investigators opened criminal proceedings against FIFA president Blatter and searched his office and also quizzed his UEFA counterpart Platini.

 

“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,” said a statement from Switzerland’s attorney general’s office (OAG).

 

Blatter, 79, is standing down because of corruption scandals involving other top officials and Platini had been favourite to win an election to be held in February to succeed him.

 

The Swiss prosecutor said in a statement that “the defendant Joseph Blatter” had been questioned and “the office of the FIFA President has been searched and data seized.”

Blatter was questioned as “a suspect”. The statement added that Platini had been questioned “as a person called upon to give information.”

 

Platini, 60, has been head of UEFA since January 2007 which made him an automatic FIFA vice-president. His office refused to make an immediate comment.

 

Blatter “is suspected of making a disloyal payment of 2.0 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million) to Michel Platini, president of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA,” the office said.