Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter presented his defense to the ethics committee of world soccer's governing body Thursday, arguing he had behaved properly, his American attorney said. Blatter is under investigation in Switzerland on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds at FIFA, the global soccer body which is also at the center of a huge FBI corruption probe. He denies any wrongdoing. "President Blatter looks forward to a decision in his favor, because the evidence requires it," Richard Cullen of New York-based legal practice McGuireWoods said in a statement emailed to media. "The evidence demonstrates that President Blatter behaved properly and certainly did not violate FIFA's Code of Ethics. This investigation should be closed and the suspension lifted." Blatter was suspended on Oct. 8 from all soccer-related activity for 90 days alongside European (UEFA) soccer chief Michel Platini pending a full investigation into their conduct. Platini's case will be heard Friday, but he has said he will boycott the tribunal. His lawyers will go however. Platini has said the verdict has been decided in advance and his lawyers say FIFA's ethics committee has recommended a life ban for the French football legend. Blatter and Platini deny any misconduct. With a large bandage on his face, Blatter arrived at FIFA headquarters shortly after 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) in a chauffeur-driven car for a hearing that was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. A spokesman for Blatter, Thomas Renggli, said the Swiss official has had a minor procedure to treat a skin problem on his right cheek. At 5 p.m., Blatter and lead lawyer Lorenz Erni drove away from the building without making any comment. Before the hearing, Blatter, 79, wrote a letter to FIFA's 209 members calling the FIFA ethics commission's investigators "the inquisition." As the hearing went ahead, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, whose country will host the 2018 World Cup, said Blatter should be a Nobel Peace laureate. "That is someone who should be given the Nobel Peace Prize," Putin said. "His contribution to the global humanitarian sphere is colossal." The ethics committee chamber is expected to announce its verdict next Monday. Appeals to a FIFA appeal committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport are then possible. FIFA has been plunged into several corruption scandals this year, which played a key role in Blatter's announcement in June that he would stand down when a new election is held in February. Platini was considered favorite to take over but his campaign has been frozen since he and Blatter were suspended in October over the payment which they insist was legal. The United States asked Switzerland to freeze about 50 accounts in Swiss banks linked to its massive inquiry into football corruption, a federal prosecution spokesman said. Federal justice spokesman Folco Galli said "funds in the high tens of millions (Swiss francs) are blocked." The Tages Anzeiger newspapere said the figure was between 50 million and 100 million Swiss francs ($50-100 million/46-92 million euros). Galli declined to comment on the total. The action involved about 50 accounts in 10 Swiss banks. Numerous FIFA members are known to have accounts in the country. Nicolas Leoz, a longtime head of the South American confederation, CONMEBOL, had 12 accounts in Switzerland, the Swiss television programme Eco said, quoting details from the US request. The United States has charged 39 individuals, including Leoz, and two companies over bribes of more than $200 million paid for football marketing and television rights deals. Twelve have so far pleaded guilty. Galli said that because of the scope of the US inquiry, the FIFA case is "one of the biggest cases of foreign help that we are dealing with." The UBS, Credit Suisse, Pictet, BSI and Julius Baer banks have all received requests for account details. The federal justice office looks at each request case by case and if suspicious information is confirmed hands details to the United States. But appeals are possible against the decisions and Tages Anzeiger said it could take years to get all the cases completed. Germany has also asked Switzerland for judicial help over its inquiry into allegations that bribes were paid to secure the 2006 World Cup finals.
