FIFA’s embattled president, Sepp Blatter, and his second-in-command have hired high-powered lawyers to represent them as Swiss authorities identified suspicious bank transactions in a corruption probe engulfing football’s global governing body.
Blatter recently retained Richard Cullen, the chairman of the law firm McGuireWoods and a former US federal prosecutor, FIFA confirmed in an email to Reuters yesterday.
Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary general, has hired prominent New York defence attorney Barry Berke to represent him, FIFA said, adding it had no further comment to make.
Swiss prosecutors looking into the international football scandal identified 53 suspicious bank transactions, the country’s attorney general said, stressing that the investigation may take time.
Attorney general Michael Lauber told journalists he would not rule out interviewing Blatter and Valcke, although Switzerland had so far targeted no individuals.
Switzerland, where FIFA is based, announced its criminal investigation and seized computers at FIFA headquarters last month on the same day that the United States revealed indictments of nine football officials and five businessmen as part of a separate probe into corruption.
“We are faced with a complex investigation with many international implications,” Lauber said.
“The world of football needs to be patient. By its nature, this investigation will take more than the legendary 90 minutes,” he said, referring to the length of a football match.
US prosecutors have not accused Blatter of wrongdoing.
Among the issues the Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining is Blatter’s stewardship of FIFA, sources have said.
US prosecutors believe that Valcke was involved in $10 million in FIFA bank transactions that are a key part of the investigation, a source said in early June. He also has not been accused of wrongdoing.
World Cup bidding
FIFA’s ethics committee confirmed it was conducting its own investigation into individuals suspected of breaking the rules in relation to bidding for the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were granted to Russia and Qatar respectively.
It said it was prepared to investigate more suspects and take on extra staff if needed.
On Wednesday, Ricardo Teixeira, the former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), said he got “absolutely nothing” in return for his vote to award Qatar the rights to host the 2022 World Cup and described suggestions he was involved in impropriety as “preposterous.”
Switzerland’s third-largest listed bank, Julius Baer, said it had launched an internal investigation in connection with FIFA. It said it was co-operating with the authorities and did not say when its own probe had begun.
The attorney general said Blatter and Valcke could be among those summoned for questioning:
“There will be formal interviews of all relevant people,” Lauber said. “By definition, this does not exclude interviewing the president of FIFA and this does not exclude interviewing the secretary general of FIFA.”
Lauber said his team had obtained evidence on 104 bank-client relationships, each of which represented several accounts. Switzerland’s Financial Intelligence Unit anti-money laundering agency had identified 53 suspicious transactions flagged up from information supplied by banks.
Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term just two days after the probes became public. He announced the following week that he would step down and a new presidential election would be held between December and February.
Swiss authorities have said their criminal investigation specifically targets the decisions to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Russia and Qatar deny wrongdoing and say they are preparing to hold the tournaments as scheduled.
Lauber said his work was completely independent of the ongoing US cases. While Switzerland had fulfilled a request for legal assistance from the United States, it had not asked for any such help in return, he added.
His probe was looking closely at material generated by Michael Garcia, an American lawyer hired by FIFA to investigate ethics violations who spent years examining the Russia and Qatar bids.
Garcia’s report was not published and FIFA released only a summary which exonerated the Russian and Qatari bids of serious wrongdoing.
Garcia quit saying the summary mischaracterised his report. However, it resulted in proceedings being opened against unnamed individuals, which his successor Cornel Borbely said he has continued.
“Should new evidence come to light, the investigatory chamber will widen the group of suspects. (It) is prepared to increase its staff numbers at any time if needed,” he said.