Fifa: Sepp Blatter faces Swiss criminal investigation

Swiss prosecutors say they are investigating Sepp Blatter, the head of football's world governing body Fifa, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement.

The attorney general's office said he was suspected of signing a contract that was "unfavourable to Fifa" and making a "disloyal payment" to European football chief Michel Platini.

Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added.

The 79-year-old, who has run Fifa since 1998, has always denied any wrongdoing.

Fifa, which has been hit by a string of corruption allegations in recent years, said it was co-operating with the investigation.

'Disloyal payment'

"Swiss criminal proceedings against the president of Fifa, Mr Joseph Blatter, have been opened... on suspicion of criminal mismanagement... and - alternatively - misappropriation," the Swiss attorney general's office said in a statement.

It said Mr Blatter was suspected of signing a contract with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005 that was "unfavourable to Fifa" and in doing so "violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of Fifa..."

The contract they mention is thought to refer to a TV rights deal agreed between Fifa and Mr Warner's organisation Concacaf which, according to an investigation by a Swiss broadcaster earlier this month, allegedly resulted in a multi-million pound profit for Mr Warner's own company.

Fifa owns the TV rights to the World Cup and sells them to regional federations which then sell them on to broadcasters.

Mr Blatter's lawyer, Richard Cullen, said he was confident the inquiry would clear Mr Blatter of any wrongdoing.

"We are confident that when the Swiss authorities have a chance to review the documents and the evidence, they will see that the contract was properly prepared and negotiated by the appropriate staff members of Fifa who were routinely responsible for such contracts, and certainly no mismanagement occurred," he said.

According to the Swiss attorney general, Mr Blatter is also suspected of making a "disloyal payment" of two million Swiss francs ($2m; £1.3m) in 2011 to Mr Platini, the statement said.

It said the payment was "at the expense of Fifa, which was allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002".

Mr Blatter is due to step down in February and Mr Platini is widely expected to replace him.

Mr Platini, for his part, issued a statement on Friday evening, saying the money he received from Mr Blatter "relates to work which I carried out under a contract with Fifa" and he had clarified matters with the authorities. ... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34363289

Ну что, сдаст друг Зепп лепшего друга Вована?
А хорошо бы покаяться-то, чтобы не портить некролог.
Другу Сильвио пока омерта не позволяет. Может когда одной ногой он встанет тама?
Поэтому у обоих высокий риск внезапного конца, обычный конец, кстати, для друзей.
Как в Питере.
Наверное это будет нечто естественное.
Ну не шарфик же в ванной.