BLATTER
FIFA's independent Ethics Committee has opened formal
proceedings against the organisation's former president Sepp Blatter, as well
as Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner, in relation to numerous alleged violations
of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE).
In June, lawyers conducting an internal investigation at
world football's governing body said Blatter, former general secretary Valcke
and ex-acting secretary general and director of finance Kattner benefitted
improperly from bonuses totalling a combined 79million Swiss francs (£55m) over
the past five years.
The law firm Quinn Emanuel also stated two clauses in
contract extensions granted to Valcke and Kattner in April 2011, shortly before
Blatter's successful campaign for re-election against Mohammed Bin Hamman, are
contrary to mandatory Swiss law.
Blatter and Valcke are presently serving respective six and
12-year bans from all football-related activity, handed down by the Ethics
Committee. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
Kattner was dismissed last month as a result of an internal
FIFA investigation that "uncovered breaches of fiduciary
responsibilities" and the three men must now answer questions relating to
possible FCE violations in the areas of general rules of conduct; loyalty;
conflicts of interest; offering and accepting gifts and other benefits; and
bribery and corruption.
A statement released by FIFA read: "The deputy chairman
of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Djimbaraye Bourngar, has
opened formal proceedings against Joseph Blatter, former President of FIFA,
Jerome Valcke, former Secretary General of FIFA and Markus Kattner, former
Acting Secretary General and Director of Finance & Corporate Services.
"The investigatory chamber will investigate possible
violations of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 15 (Loyalty), art. 19
(Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other
benefits) and art. 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE)
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."
Kattner will also be investigated over a possible violation
related to confidentiality rules.
The FIFA statement added: Under the FIFA Code of
Ethics, the investigatory chamber shall examine all circumstances of the cases
equally. For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence
until proven guilty, the investigatory chamber will not publish further details
at the present time."
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