April 30 – A new twist has emerged in the criminal case against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter that was recently dropped, further calling into question the efficacity of the Swiss justice department that has been under severe scrutiny in recent months.
Swiss prosecutors had investigated Blatter for signing a contract with the Caribbean Football Union, then under the control of the infamous Jack Warner, that was unfavourable to FIFA. The contract granted television rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups to the CFU for $600,000 dollars, an amount deemed to be way below market price.
After the probe was dropped, Blatter, still serving a ban for the unrelated infamous “disloyal payment” saga involving Michel Platini, hailed the move as a partial victory in his attempt to clear his name.
No reason was given for the Swiss attorney general’s office dropping the case but according to The Associated Press, Swiss investigators concluded Blatter knew Warner would personally benefit, costing FIFA millions of dollars.
The AP says the Swiss federal police established that the “suspicions of the public prosecutor against the ex-president of FIFA in 2015 were well founded”.
The criminal investigation was opened in 2015 for “suspicion of unfair management and breach of trust,” and contributed to ending Blatter’s 17-year hold on the presidency.
In its file, the federal police are reported to conclude that Blatter knew the deal was illegal and acted “more in the interests of Warner than in the interests of FIFA” by failing to assert a claim by FIFA against the UCF when he became aware of “an illegal sublicence arrangement” put in place by Warner to a company controlled by his family which sold the rights on for a reported $20 million.
The file is further said to criticise Blatter “for having accepted that Mr. Warner therefore illicitly enriched himself at the expense of FIFA”
FIFA calculated it was owed almost $3.8 million in 2011 after Warner, still wanted in the United States after being indicted for his alleged role in the FIFAgate scandal, resigned from all his footballing activities.
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