The ethic committee is enquiring to the affairs of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini. Platini is the President of UEFA and was the candidate to succeed Blatter. Blatter claimed that he was clean and therefore was confident that he would not be investigated. Now it appears that Swiss and American authorities have initiated investigations on Blatter.
There was a verbal agreement between Blatter and Platini that the latter would be paid a bonus of 300,000 Swiss francs per year for this advisory job. The bonus was not paid for 3 ½ years. Blatter paid 1.05 million Swiss francs for three-and-a-half years of work. There was no written agreement. There was also no record of approval of an appropriate oversight company. But informed sources believe that this was just payment to former French National Player Michel Platini to support Blatter in his re-election.
Michel Zen-Ruffinen was Blatter’s deputy and former protégé. He wrote a 30-page dossier outlining allegations of financial mismanagement within the organization. The dossier alleged that the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner ISL had led to losses of up to $100m under Blatter’s stewardship.
The dossier was handed to the Swiss authorities, but they cleared Blatter of any wrongdoing and ordered FIFA to pay all the costs. Blatter became more confident that he was unassailable after this.
This was followed by an internal investigation within FIFA. Blatter halted the investigations on the grounds that some members of investigation team broke confidentiality agreements. He removed Zen-Ruffinen from office before the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Some believe that this was a high handed action.
Blatter announced that he would resign from the post of FIFA president, hold an extraordinary meeting to elect a president and that he would continue in office until the new president takes over.
On 25 September 2015, Swiss authorities said that they were investigating Blatter in relation to payments made to UEFA president Michel Platini.
Major FIFA sponsors Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonalds and Budweiser wanted him totally out of FIFA. This indicates an early exit of Blatter.
“United Passions,” is film about FIFA filmed by the French director Frédéric Auburtin. The film cost 23 million Euros. Blatter paid 20 million Euros from FIFA funds. Much of the film focuses on the rise of Sepp Blatter.
FIFA world cup is important to all countries. So much so, the heads of states get involved in lobbying for hosting it. Even Barak Obama spoke to Sepp Blatter. Even then FIFA officials boldly take bribes from member countries to host the game in their country. This is bold corruption.
Michel Platini was slated to be the successor to Blatter. It is very unlikely that he will succeed Blatter. Platini is leading the charge against Blatter in Zürich at the moment. His role in receiving 1.05 million Swiss francs bonus will also dictate against him.
Platini voted in favor of Qatar as World Cup host. Before doing so, he met with the then emir for dinner together with then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy. This was in violation of FIFA ethics rules. Platini’s son got a job with Qatar Sports Investments after a short time.
Who will succeed Blatter at FIFA? Former FIFA secretary general Michel Zen Ruffinen was suggested to be another potential candidate to take the place of Blatter. Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, who failed to oust Blatter in May, appears to have good potential.
