Former FIFA officials awarded themselves close to 80 mln CHF: lawyers

Lawyers conducting internal investigations into illegal activities at FIFA claimed Friday that three former top officials enriched themselves through annual pay raises, bonuses and other incentives amounting to over 79 million CHF (80.84 million U.S. dollars) between 2011 and 2015.

The three parties concerned are former FIFA President Joseph Blatter, former Secretary General Jerome Valcke and former Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner.

"In total, the new documents and evidence appear to reveal a coordinated effort by three former top officials of FIFA to enrich themselves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses, as well as undue severance payments," FIFA indicated in a statement.

"It is clear that the preliminary findings indicate that the payments and contracts warrant considerable further investigation. FIFA has shared this information with the Office of the Swiss Attorney General and it will brief the U.S. Department of Justice on the matters as well," it added.

Details published by the world's football governing body revealed that multiple contract amendments were used to boost payments, with evidence pointing towards breaches of fiduciary duty.

A number of these modifications came into force on days which might suggest vested interests and ethical wrongdoing.

As an example, lawyers highlighted that both Valcke and Kattner were given 8.5-year contract extensions combined with large increases of their base salaries and bonuses shortly before FIFA's 2011 Presidential election pitching Blatter against Mohammed Bin Hamman took place.

As FIFA's attorneys pointed out, the outcome of the election at the time was uncertain.

Had Blatter lost the elections, Valcke's and Kattner's employment with the association would likely have been terminated, a contingency taken care of by severance terms guaranteeing full payment of up to 17.5 million CHF and 9.8 million CHF respectively.

The two contracts also include a number of clauses in apparent breach of mandatory Swiss law.

Preliminary findings also suggest additional world cup bonus payments awarded to the three individuals.

This update follows a police raid carried out in FIFA's Zurich-based headquarters on Thursday, a year after FIFA was first shaken by systemic allegations of fraud, bribery and money laundering. (1 CHF=1.02 U.S. dollar) Endit