FIFA opens bribery case against Blatter, two others

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is now facing a bribery case, and one of his former vice-presidents was fined more than US$1 million in a separate investigation into kickbacks.

The FIFA ethics committee said Friday it opened formal proceedings against Blatter, former secretary general Jerome Valcke and former finance director Markus Kattner over million-dollar payments in their contracts – some of which were approved by other senior FIFA officials.

On a busy day for FIFA prosecutors and judges, former vice-president Jeffrey Webb was later fined one million Swiss francs ($1.02 million) and banned from soccer for life in another bribery case.

The record fine imposed by FIFA was surprising. A life ban for the Cayman Islands banker – once North America’s top soccer official and a one-time possible successor to Blatter – was expected after he pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court last November to charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.

FIFA revealed in June, after Kattner was fired, that he, Blatter and Valcke agreed to pay themselves bonuses worth tens of millions of dollars from World Cup profits.

Lawyers acting for soccer’s governing body described evidence suggesting “a co-ordinated effort by three former top officials of FIFA to enrich themselves.”

Ethics prosecutors said Friday their investigation relates to bribery and corruption, accepting gifts and conflicts of interest for all three men, plus a breach of confidentiality by Kattner.

The case involves “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,” the statement said.