It’s a half court victory for Sepp Blatter. According to information from World and the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Swiss Confederation (MPC) decided in March to close one of the two investigations against the former Swiss president of the International Football Federation (FIFA) in the context of the criminal proceedings opened on September 24, 2015 « for suspicion of unfair management and breach of trust "
After nearly five years of investigation, the former boss of the football (1998-2015), 84 years old, will therefore not be prosecuted for the granting of television rights to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) , one of the two aspects of the procedure, as he received confirmation at the end of March, in a letter from the federal prosecutor Thomas Hildebrand.
The decision, not yet formalized, of the Swiss public prosecutor's office – contacted, the MPC confirmed that it intended to close the investigation concerning this file – intervenes whereas the American justice accused for the first time, Monday April 6, of leaders of the FIFA for receiving bribes in connection with the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively to Russia and Qatar.
Page Contents
$ 15-20 million
The MPC suspected Mr. Blatter of having signed, in September 2005, a " unfavorable contract with FIFA " with the CFU, then directed by the Trinidadian Jack Warner, suspended for life by the International Federation and charged with corruption by the American justice.
Terminated by FIFA in 2011, the said contract with the CFU was revealed on September 12, 2015 by the Swiss television channel SRF. The latter accused Mr. Blatter of having sold off the television rights of the 2010 and 2014 Worlds to Jack Warner, who would have made an estimated profit of between 15 million and 20 million dollars.
The ex-president of FIFA remains warned in the second part of the case, the most media: the allegedly "unfair" payment of 2 million Swiss francs to Michel Platini in February 2011
The ex-president of FIFA maintains, for the time being, his status as an accused in the second part of the case, the most media-intensive, currently in the investigation phase: the alleged payment " unfair " the 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) he paid in February 2011 to Michel Platini, then president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). According to the two interested parties, this payment corresponds to a balance of wages dating from the period (1998-2002) when the Frenchman was the adviser to the Valaisan.
Questioned as an assisted witness, on September 25, 2015, Mr. Platini was dismissed in this case, in May 2018, by a letter from the Swiss public prosecutor's office.
But it was the opening of criminal proceedings against Mr. Blatter which led the FIFA ethics committee to suspend, in October 2015, the former boss of world football and Mr. Platini. And thus seal the fall of the two most powerful leaders in world football. Candidate for Mr. Blatter's succession for the February 2016 election, the ex-number 10 of the Blues had seen his political ambitions struck down by his radiation. Which ended in October 2019. Mr. Blatter had himself been suspended for six years, a sanction confirmed in December 2016 by the Lausanne Arbitration Tribunal for Sport (CAS).
" I will ask FIFA to rehabilitate me ”
" This movement is going in the right direction ”, the former FIFA president reacted after receiving mail from the Swiss public prosecutor's office announcing that the investigation into the contract with the CFU was to be closed. Since 2015, Mr. Blatter has been defended by Me Lorenz Erni – who did not act on our requests – also a lawyer for actor Roman Polanski and especially for … Michael Lauber, the attorney general of the Swiss public prosecutor's office. In March, the latter was found guilty of having breached his duties of office, following the disciplinary investigation of the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office, because of his informal meetings, in 2016 and 2017, with Gianni Infantino, Mr. Blatter's successor at the head of FIFA.
Sepp Blatter now hopes that " the case of 2 million will be closed " to ask FIFA to lift its suspension. " I will ask FIFA to rehabilitate me ”, assures the Valaisan, in open conflict with the institution and his successor.
The Swiss authorities have until 2026 to decide on the case of the payment of the 2 million Swiss francs. According to the Swiss penal code, the passage of time can lead to a lessening of the penalty, especially when two-thirds of the limitation period is reached (in 2021 in this case).
"Time is playing for Mr. Blatter"
" Time is running out for Mr. Blatter, esteem Me Vincent Solari, Michel Platini's Swiss lawyer in this matter. Even if I don't see how he could be found guilty of anything with regard to the disputed payment. "
Pending the verdict of the MPC on the payment of 2 million, the case could also go to civil justice to the extent that FIFA said it had filed a complaint, in December 2019, against MM. Platini and Blatter to obtain reimbursement of these funds paid in "Undue", depending on the instance.
The case would turn into political and judicial confrontation. And all the more so, according to information from the World and the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the rapporteurs of the Supervisory Authority of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office estimated, in a disciplinary report published in March, that a magistrate friend of Mr. Infantino sought, on behalf of the latter, in July 2015, to glean from the Attorney General Michael Lauber court information regarding … Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.
