BERNE/NEW YORK — FIFA's embattled president, Sepp Blatter, and his second-in-command have hired high-powered lawyers to represent them as a corruption probe engulfs soccer's global governing body with Swiss authorities identifying suspicious bank transactions. Blatter recently retained Richard Cullen, the chairman of the law firm McGuireWoods and a former US federal prosecutor, FIFA confirmed in an email to Reuters Thursday.
Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary general, has hired prominent New York defense attorney Barry Berke to represent him, FIFA said, adding it had no further comment to make.
Swiss prosecutors looking into the international soccer scandal identified 53 suspicious bank transactions, the attorney general said Wednesday, stressing that the investigation may take time.
Switzerland, where FIFA is based, announced its criminal investigation and seized computers at FIFA headquarters last month on the same day that the United States revealed indictments of nine soccer officials and five businessmen as part of a separate probe into corruption.
US prosecutors have not accused Blatter of wrongdoing. Among the issues the Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining is Blatter's stewardship of FIFA, sources have said.
US prosecutors believe that Valcke was involved in $10 million in FIFA bank transactions that are a key part of the investigation, a source said in early June. He also has not been accused of wrongdoing.
FIFA's ethics committee confirmed it was conducting its own investigation into individuals suspected of breaking the rules in relation to bidding for the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were granted to Russia and Qatar respectively.
Ricardo Teixeira, the former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), said he got “absolutely nothing” in return for his vote to award Qatar the rights to host the 2022 World Cup and described suggestions he was involved in impropriety as “preposterous.” Swiss authorities have said their criminal investigation specifically targets the decisions to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Both Russia and Qatar deny wrongdoing and say they are preparing to hold the tournaments as scheduled.
Lauber said he had no complaints about FIFA's cooperation to date. FIFA said in a statement that the Swiss investigation was based on a complaint that it had made itself last November.
All clean so far
Anti-money laundering investigators in Liechtenstein are keeping a lookout for suspicious financial transactions which could be related to alleged FIFA corruption but so far have not found any, a senior investigator said.
Daniel Thelesklaf, head of Liechtenstein's Financial Intelligence Unit, told Reuters Thursday his agency had been monitoring financial transactions for possible FIFA-related irregularities, paralleling the activities of anti-money laundering units in other countries, including neighboring Switzerland.
While his office so has far found no recent suspicious activity, Thelesklaf said, it was “still looking” for possible transactions that could be related to the soccer organization. — Agencies
