Primebaze.com.ng The 79-year-old is set to be
investigated by Swiss
authorities for the first time
after 40 years at the helm of
world football's governing
body
Down all his 40 years at Fifa
Sepp Blatter has been the
Teflon man. Whatever mud
might have been thrown at
the increasingly embattled
world football federation,
none has ever stuck to him.
Initially Blatter was
development director, then
general secretary, then chief
executive and, since 1998,
president. Now his command
of the presidency hangs by a
thread after the Swiss
Attorney-General, Michael
Lauber, launched a criminal
investigation into the 79-year-
old's activities.
Throughout the last scandal-
shrouded months Blatter has
insisted that, whatever
accusations might assail all
those around him, at least he
was "clean" and thus the right
man at the helm "to bring the
good ship Fifa safely into
port."
Two weeks ago all that
changed when details were
revealed of a contract signed
off a decade ago by Blatter in
favour of the Caribbean
fiefdom of Jack Warner, then
the head of the central and
north American confederation
and a vice-president of Fifa.
On the face of it Blatter had
approved the sale of World
Cup television rights at far
below market price.
Barely had the fuss begun to
die down that Blatter's name
was mentioned again, this
time among ticketing scam
allegations laid against his
right-hand man Jerome
Valcke, Fifa’s secretary-
general. Valcke angrily denied
the allegations but, even so,
was suspended pending the
outcome of an ethics
committee investigation.
Valcke should be granted the
presumption of innocence but
at least he is the subject of an
inquiry into a sports
administration issue and not
an investigation into possible
criminality.
On May 27, within hours of
the arrests of seven senior
football executives - including
two Fifa vice-presidents - on
corruption allegations, they
were all suspended from
football by Fifa’s German
ethics judge, Hans-Joachim
Eckert. Whether or not the
same indignity is visited upon
Blatter whatever credibility
remained to him has been
undermined.
Hours before the investigation
was announced his fears and
limitation had been laid bare
by the acquiescence of the
Fifa executive committee in
shifting its December meeting
from Tokyo back to Zurich.
The significance is Blatter’s
fear of leaving Switzerland
from which, as a Swiss citizen,
he cannot be extradited.
The only foreign trip he has
undertaken since the US
Justice-inspired swoop of May
27 has been to Russia for the
World Cup qualifying draw. He
knew he was safe, under the
protection of President
Vladimir Putin; Russia, after all,
has no extradition treaty with
the US. Blatter thus benefited
from the same protection
already granted to the security
whistle-blower, Edward
Snowden.
The last thing Blatter expected
was the indignity and
embarrassment of seeing the
justice system in his own
homeland turning against not
only the organisation to
which he has devoted most of
his adult life but against him
too. Not only that but the
Swiss authorities have
uncovered a concerning
payment authorised by Blatter
to Uefa president Michel
Platini. The payment was
made in February 2011. This
was two months after Platini
had changed his mind - by his
own admission - and
switched his allegiance for
2022 World Cup host from the
US to Qatar.
All along Blatter has insisted
that Fifa is not corrupt, and
that has only been dirtied by a
handful of individuals. He is
"clean." Demonstrating the
validity of that assurance now
rests with the Swiss Attorney-
General.