French authorities have searched the Paris offices of the French Football Federation in connection with Switzerland’s criminal investigation targeting former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the Swiss attorney general said Wednesday.
Documents in connection with Blatter’s infamous 2.0 million Swiss franc ($2.0 million, 1.8 million euros) payment to the fallen UEFA president Michel Platini “were seized” in the search carried out on Tuesday, Switzerland’s top prosecutor said in a statement.
The statement said it asked France for cooperation in the investigation on January 14.
“Pursuant to that request… and in close coordination with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), the French Financial Prosecution Office proceeded yesterday to a search of the offices of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris,” the statement said.
It added that the search was “in connection with the criminal proceedings against Mr. Joseph Blatter.”
Switzerland opened an investigation against Blatter in September for alleged criminal mismanagement during his tenure as FIFA’s president.
It also suspected Blatter of making a payment that was “disloyal” to FIFA.
That payment was the 2.0 million Swiss francs Blatter authorised to Platini in 2011, reportedly for consulting work the Frenchman performed a decade earlier.
Doubts surrounding that payment led FIFA’s ethics judges to ban both Blatter and Platini from football for six years.
In the Swiss case, Platini has been questioned in a status that falls between a witness and an accused.
“Mr. Michel Platini’s status in the proceedings has remained unchanged,” the OAG statement said. – Agence France-Presse
