Geneva, Oct 22 (IANS) The following are the 11 current and former world football governing body officials placed under investigation by the FIFA ethics committee, according to Xinhua:
* Sepp Blatter: FIFA president since 1998.
The ethics committee announced on October 8 that Blatter was banned for 90 days and was put under investigation focusing on a payment of 2 million Swiss Francs made by FIFA to Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Michel Platini in 2011. The Swiss attorney general’s office has opened criminal proceedings against Blatter over the payment.
* Michel Platini: Former French captain who led his team to the 1984 European championship top podium and the semi-finals at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
He has been on the FIFA executive committee since 2002 and UEFA president since 2007. He was banned for 90 days with Blatter on October 8 for the suspected 2 million Swiss Francs. He is regarded as being “between a witness and a suspect” in the Swiss investigation over the payment. Platini has appealed the suspension.
* Franz Beckenbauer: He captained West Germany to World Cup triumph in 1974 and coached Germany to the trophy in 1990, becoming one of only two people to have won the World Cup as a player and coach.
He headed the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Recently, he denied a report that a 6.7 million euro fund was used to buy votes in Germany’s bidding.
He was on the FIFA executive committee in 2010 when it voted to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively. The voting procedure have been under scrutiny from the ethics committee. He was banned for 90 days in June 2014 for failing to cooperate with the investigation.
So far, the ethics committee did not say why Beckenbauer had been investigated.
* Angel Maria Villar: President of the Spanish Football Federation since 1988 and a member of FIFA’s executive committee since 1998. He is also a member of the UEFA executive committee.
So far, the ethics committee did not say why Villar had been investigated.
* Jeffrey Webb: Former president of the North and Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation and a FIFA executive member since 2012.
He was one of 14 people indicted by United States prosecutors on May 27 on corruption-related charges. He was arrested at a luxury Zurich hotel and extradited to the US where he has been bailed and pleaded not guilty.
* Eugenio Figueiredo: President of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) from 2013 to 2014, former president of the Uruguayan Football Association (1997-2006) and former executive committee member.
He is also among the 14 indicted by US prosecutors and was arrested in Zurich.
* Nicolas Leoz: President of CONMEBOL from 1986 to 2013 and on FIFA’s executive committee from 1998 to 2013. He retired from both posts in April 2013 for health reasons.
One week after he stepped down, a FIFA ethics report said Leoz had taken bribes from FIFA’s former marketing partner ISL. He is also among the 14 indicted and under house arrest in Paraguay.
* Amos Adamu: Former FIFA executive committee member from Nigeria who was banned for three years in 2010 for a number of breaches of the FIFA ethics code, including bribery.
* Jerome Valcke: FIFA secretary general who was put on leave in September, before being suspended by the FIFA ethics committee earlier this month.
The investigation against the Frenchman focuses on the suspicion of misuse of expenses and other infringements of FIFA’s rules and regulations.
* Ricardo Teixeira: President of the Brazilian Football Confederation from 1989 to 2012 and a FIFA executive committee member from 1994 to 2012.
Three months after he stepped down from FIFA, Swiss prosecutors released a legal document, accusing him of taking bribes from Switzerland’s former marketing partner ISL.
* Worawi Makudi: President of the Football Association of Thailand since 2007 and a member of the FIFA executive committee from 1997 until this year.
He was banned for 90 days on October 12 pending an investigation into suspected breaches of the FIFA code of ethics.