Football
Former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has sharply criticized his successor Gianni Infantino. “It’s megalomania,” he adds.
Sepp Blatter calls for the opening of an investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino, targeted by criminal proceedings in Switzerland, “thinks he is untouchable,” said Thursday his deposed predecessor Sepp Blatter who calls for the opening of an investigation by the Ethics Commission of the instance. At the head of FIFA since 2016, Mr. Infantino “left in a situation where he thinks he is untouchable. It’s megalomania ”, judged Mr. Blatter, in an interview with AFP.
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The boss of world football has been targeted since July 30 by criminal proceedings in Switzerland, the extraordinary federal prosecutor considering that there are “elements of reprehensible behavior in connection with the meeting between the Attorney General Michael Lauber, the President of FIFA and the first prosecutor of Haut-Valais “, Rinaldo Arnold, childhood friend of Mr. Infantino. The offenses against Mr. Infantino are” incitement to abuse of authority, to breach of secrecy function and obstruction of criminal proceedings ”.
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“Locked control bodies”
In a recent letter to the 211 FIFA member federations, Mr. Infantino once again explained that these matches, for which there is no written record “were by no means secret and certainly not illegal” and that “no evidence tangible and no factual basis ”do not support this criminal procedure.
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For Mr. Blatter, himself targeted by criminal proceedings and suspended (until 2021) by the internal justice of FIFA for a controversial payment of 2 million Swiss francs to Michel Platini, the Ethics Commission of the instance “should immediately open an investigation and communicate it as they did against me”.
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But for the Valais, this Ethics Commission “is not independent”, because “Infantino has locked the control bodies and it is very worrying”. In June, the investigation against Sepp Blatter concerning the payment of the 2 million was extended to Michel Platini. As such, Blatter will be heard by Swiss justice on September 1, the day after Platini’s hearing the day before.
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A hearing of former FIFA No 2 Jérôme Valcke, scheduled for Thursday in Bern, was canceled due to travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus crisis, we learned from the suspended ex-secretary general . “The hearing did not take place due to the Covid situation. There is no new date set, ”said Mr. Valcke, interviewed by AFP. Residing in Catalonia, Mr. Valcke was unable to travel to Switzerland, where travelers arriving from Spain are subject to quarantine.
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The former journalist of the French channel Canal +, suspended 10 years for separate acts of corruption, was summoned by the prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand within the framework of a criminal procedure also targeting the former president of FIFA Sepp Blatter as well as the ex-CFO, German Markus Kattner. The three men are suspected of “unfair management”. Mr Blatter answered the prosecutor’s questions last Thursday. / AFP
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(AFP)
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