Former Fifa boss Blatter banned for role in 60 million euro bonus payments scam

Sepp Blatter, the former supremo of world football’s governing body Fifa, was on Wednesday effectively handed a lifetime ban from the game for his part in a merry-go-round of bonus payments involving his second-in-command, the finance chief and a vice-president.

Sepp Blatter (left) was president of world football's governing body between 1998 and 2015. Jerome Valcke (right) was his number two. Both men were found guilty of paying themselves massive bonuses. AFP/Archives

Blatter, who ran Fifa between 1998 and 2015, was suspended from all football related activity for eight years by Fifa’s ethics committee in December 2015 for corruption. 

The punishment, later reduced to six years, was due to run out on 8 October.

The new ban of six years and eight months will take effect from that point for the 85-year-old Swiss.

He has also been ordered to pay a fine of 904,000 euros.

Sanctions

The same sanctions were imposed on Blatter’s number two - the former secretary-general Jerome Valcke - for his role in the scam. 

The 60-year-old Frenchman, who is serving a 10 year ban for corruption, will not be allowed near the sport in an administrative capacity until June 2032.

The inquiry into the bonus payments started in September 2016. Investigators found that Blatter gave himself 20.7 million euros in "extraordinary bonuses" related to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Valcke, a former sports journalist, received 27 million euros in bonuses for the same period, the ethics committee said. The former finance director, Markus Kattner, and vice-president Julio Grondona, were also multi-million euro beneficiaries.

"Together, Blatter, Valcke and Kattner shared 58 million euros in extraordinary bonuses, as well as 3.8 million euros for Grondona,” the ethics committee said.

System

“Blatter, Grondona and Valcke signed the endorsements approving their respective bonuses, while Kattner was responsible for paying them and refraining from reporting them to Fifa's auditors and in the body's financial releases.”

The ethics committee added: “The four had developed a system that granted them extraordinary benefits with minimal effort as they mutually approved amendments to their contracts, in violation of their oversight duties.”

Kattner was barred for 10 years from football related activities in June 2020. He is contesting his 2016 dismissal from Fifa in court. Grondona died in 2014.

"This is a painful and incomprehensible blow on the neck," Blatter said in a statement released by his spokesperson.

"The ethics committee in its current form has nothing to do with an independent body - it is much more the extended arm of the Fifa president and not much more than a 'parallel-justice.'" 

Blatter, Valcke and Kattner can appeal against the verdict at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.