Fifa says Sepp Blatter and other top executives got $80m over five years

There are some serious allegations being made against Sepp Blatter, left, and Jerome Valcke. Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters

LAUSANNE, Switzerland // Fifa has revealed that disgraced former officials Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner awarded themselves raises and World Cup bonuses totaling US$80 million (Dh293.8m) over their last five years in office.

Some of the contracted payments appear to break Swiss law, and evidence will be given to American and Swiss federal prosecutors who are investigating corruption implicating the world football body, lawyers for Fifa said on Friday.

“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 79m Swiss francs [Dh297m] – in just the last five years,” said Bill Burck of Quinn Emanuel, the US law firm retained by Fifa during its corruption crisis.

Fifa revealed details of the contracts of its former president Blatter, dismissed former secretary general Valcke and fired finance director Kattner one day after police raided Fifa to seize evidence for the Swiss investigation.

Blatter’s lawyers said his payment arrangements at Fifa were above board.

“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,” said US lawyer Richard Cullen in a statement made on behalf of the former head of world football.

Blatter got a 12m Swiss francs bonus after the successful 2014 World Cup in Brazil and would have been due another 12m Swiss francs for completing his 2015-19 presidential term, the contracts reveal.

The secretly agreed bonuses were significantly more than Blatter’s base salary – 3m Swiss francs in 2015 – which Fifa published in March.

Valcke got a $2m basic salary before being fired, but was awarded a $10m World Cup bonus for 2014 and was due $11m from the 2018 tournament in Russia.

The police raid Thursday included searches in the office of Kattner, who was fired last week.

“Documents and electronic data were seized and will now be examined to determine their relevance to the ongoing proceedings,” the Swiss federal prosecution office said on Friday.

Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber opened criminal proceedings against Blatter last September, and against Valcke in March.

Both are suspected of criminal mismanagement of Fifa money. Blatter and Valcke deny wrongdoing but were banned for six and 12 years, respectively, by Fifa’s ethics committee.

No criminal proceedings have yet been opened against Kattner, who joined Fifa as finance director in 2003 and got bonuses totaling 7m Swiss francs from the past two World Cups.

At the height of Fifa’s crisis last year, Kattner was given further cash guarantees from Fifa’s $5 billion income from the 2014 World Cup.

On May 31, 2015 – four days after the US and Swiss investigations were revealed by police raids on Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel and Fifa – Kattner’s contract was extended through 2023 with extra clauses guaranteeing termination pay and indemnification for legal fees and restitution claims.

“These two provisions appear to violate mandatory Swiss law,” Fifa said on Friday.

Kattner’s payments were all contracted and approved by the compensation committee Fifa created in 2013 and known to Fifa’s auditors, KMPG, a spokesperson for the German official said in a statement.

“Additionally, Fifa will refer the matter of these contracts and payments to the Ethics Committee for its review,” Fifa said in a statement.

Any ethics investigation could affect two senior officials at the heart of Fifa’s financial operation. Finance committee chairman Issa Hayatou, the interim Fifa president while Blatter was suspended, and former audit panel chairman Domenico Scala both approved at least one of the contracts revealed on Friday.

Three weeks after new Fifa President Gianni Infantino claimed that “the crisis is over”, the turmoil rocking football’s world governing body continues.

Infantino has been criticised for a breakdown in his relationship with Scala, who resigned on May 14. The Fifa president privately described as “insulting” a salary offer from Scala, reported as $2m without bonuses.

Since Kattner’s firing on May 23, German language newspapers have been fed a series of leaked minutes from meetings and Fifa emails which sought to turn scrutiny on Infantino.

Elected four months ago to replace Blatter, Infantino pledged reform and a changed culture at Fifa and was expected to face resistance from insiders. The 45-year-old Swiss official also arrived with a reputation as a critic of Fifa during seven years as secretary general of European football body Uefa.

Infantino has not publicly criticized Fifa’s former regime but the contracts revealed on Friday by its top legal advisers seem to have exposed a culture of secrecy and entitlement.

Valcke and Kattner signed eight-year contract extensions on April 30, 2011 – five weeks before Blatter was due to contest a bitterly fought presidential election against Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar.

Blatter and Valcke did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport