New Corruption Allegations Leveled Against Former FIFA Officials

ZURCH, Switzerland (CelebrityAccess) — International soccer governing body FIFA revealed that three former top officials had arranged to pay themselves salary and bonuses totaling $80 million, including tens of millions in payments that were quietly approved last May, just days after a group of senior FIFA officials were indicted on corruption charges.

A statement released by FIFA says the contracts for compensation to former FIFA President Joseph Blatter, former Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, and former Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner, who also served as FIFA’s Chief Financial Officer were discovered as a part of an internal audit

“The evidence appears to reveal a coordinated effort by three former top officials of FIFA to enrich themselves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses and other incentives totaling more than CHF 79 million – in just the last five years,” said Bill Burck, a partner with Quinn Emanuel, the law firm conducting the audits.

The new allegations announced by FIFA on Friday paint a bleak picture of corruption at the organization:

In 2010, Blatter, Valcke and Kattner were given $23 million in retroactive bonuses apart from their employment contract for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In 2011, as Blatter fought a close election to retain the FIFA presidency, Valcke and Kattner were provided with 8-year contract extensions that guaranteed their full salary even if they were terminated for cause.

Sepp Blatter was awarded a bonus of 12 million Swiss francs after the 2014 World Cup and was slated to receive a similar bonus after the 2018 World Cup. The bonus was approximately four times his annual salary.

Valcke was awarded a $10 million World Cup bonus for 2014 and was in line for another bonus worth almost $11 million after the 2018 World Cup.

The news of the auditor's report comes after Swiss authorities conducted a new raid on FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into possible corruption and the abrupt resignation of auditor Domenico Scala, who alleged that FIFA's new president, Gianni Infantino had worked to weaken FIFA's independent auditors.

In a statement to the New York Times, Blatter's attorney Richard Cullen, said, “We look forward to showing FIFA that Mr. Blatter’s compensation payments were proper, fair and in line with the heads of major professional sports leagues around the world.” – Staff Writers