FIFA President Sepp Blatter, already facing a criminal investigation from Swiss prosecutors, may now come under scrutiny from his organization's own ethics investigators if they find evidence of potential wrongdoing, according to FIFA's ethics procedure.
On Friday, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said it had opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.
The OAG said Blatter, who has been FIFA president since 1998, was suspected of a "disloyal payment" of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million) to UEFA president Michel Platini.
Platini, the favorite to win the election to replace Blatter on Feb. 26, was asked to give information as a witness, the OAG said. UEFA said the payment related to work Platini had carried out under a contract with FIFA.
While Blatter, who denies wrongdoing, has not been arrested and no charges have been laid against him, FIFA's chief ethics investigator, Cornel Borbely, will examine the facts of the case before deciding whether to launch a formal probe into Blatter.
'Sepp Blatter's old FIFA is now dead'
FIFA campaigner Damian Collins - a member of the UK Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee - said the time for reform of FIFA is now.
"It's impossible to see how they can carry on, how they could lead any kind of reform process or soldier on till February next year when they're supposed to elect their new president," he told Sky News.
"Blatter needs to go right now, there needs to be an independent president and an independent reform process that can clean FIFA out and put it back on its feet.
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The life and times of Sepp Blatter
"We are at the point of no return. Sepp Blatter's old FIFA is now dead."
Headlines in the Swiss media on Saturday urged Blatter to stand aside.
"Blatter should go as quickly as possible" was the advice given by Neue Zurcher Zeitung.
"It is imperative that he now at least quickly abandons ship," the daily said in an editorial.
Blick's front page headline was bleak: "Blatter risks jail....Twilight years behind bars?"
A series of investigations launched into FIFA
The move by the OAG to start a criminal investigation into Blatter is the latest episode to hit the troubled global governing body for soccer. In May, 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on a variety of corruption charges.
A spokesman for Borbely said that the investigator was forbidden under FIFA rules from discussing the specifics of any particular case but offered an outline of the standard procedure.
"If there are facts on the table, Mr Borbely won’t hesitate for a second to open a preliminary investigation," the spokesman told Reuters late on Friday.
Search for evidence
That preliminary investigation would not be formally announced and would consist primarily of a search for evidence - which in Blatter's case would likely involve requests to the OAG for further information.
“When the preliminary investigation leads to evidence there would be a formal investigation,” he said.
In some previous cases, officials placed under formal investigation have been suspended from soccer activities pending the outcome of the ethics probe.
Complicating the Blatter situation is that he has already stated he will leave office when a new FIFA president is elected on Feb. 26. If he were to be removed before then, Cameroon's Issa Hayatou would, as the most senior vice-president, take charge temporarily.
With FIFA grappling with various reform proposals before the February congress, the ascension of Hayatou, who is viewed by some within the soccer body as reluctant to embrace change, could be perceived by some as creating an obstacle for reforms.
But Borbely has frequently emphasized his own independence from FIFA's power structure, including Blatter.
In an interview with Reuters in March, Borbely said: "I am completely independent of any FIFA official, otherwise I couldn't and wouldn't do this job. Nobody interferes.
"I run my own law firm and I don't take any orders from FIFA - none whatsoever. I alone decide whether to open, conduct and conclude an investigation.
"I can't disclose details of how often I have met with Sepp Blatter but my contacts are limited to purely professional encounters. He has no authority to give directives to me," added Borbely.
FIFA declined to comment further on the Blatter case when contacted on Saturday. Blatter's Swiss lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The OAG said its investigation against Blatter focused on a 2005 FIFA contract with the Caribbean Football Union, then headed by Trinidad soccer baron Jack Warner, which was unfavorable for FIFA and had "violated his fiduciary duties".
FIFA has been 'decimated' by scandals, says Prince Ali
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan said that soccer's governing body has been "decimated" by the recent wave of scandals and that he has heard from "many member associations" in the last 24 hours.
"I have heard from many member associations over the last 24 hours, and what I have heard gives me confidence that, working together, we can emerge from this stronger," said Prince Ali in a statement.
"The need for new leadership that can restore the credibility of FIFA has never been more apparent.
"We cannot change the past, but we can have a future where FIFA member associations are able to focus on football rather than worrying about the next scandal or criminal investigation involving FIFA leadership.
"We have to accept that changing FIFA is not a matter of choice; it has already changed, shaken to its very core by the scandals that have decimated our governing body and cast a cloud over the entire organization."
Prince Ali, who avoided mentioning Platini or Blatter in the statement, lost to Blatter in May's presidential election, but the Swiss announced four days later that he would lay down his mandate as crisis engulfed FIFA.
"We have a duty to use our expertise, our experience, and our knowledge to lift that cloud by taking action to demonstrate that FIFA is worthy of the sport it oversees," added Prince Ali.
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