FIFA NEWS: FIFA Sanctions Mr Joseph S. Blatter and Mr Jérôme Valcke

Former FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter - (FIFA file photo)

Mr Jérôme Valcke, former FIFA Secretary Genera - (FIFA photo)

Friday, March 26, 2021

The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Mr Joseph S. Blatter, former FIFA President, and Mr Jérôme Valcke, former FIFA Secretary General, guilty of various violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE).

The investigations into Messrs Blatter and Valcke covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to FIFA competitions that were paid to top FIFA management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts, as well as reimbursement by FIFA of private legal costs in the case of Mr Valcke.

In its decisions, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that Mr Blatter had breached art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest) and art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) of the FCE, while Mr Valcke was found to have violated art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and art. 25 (Abuse of position) of the FCE. In the calculation of the sanctions to be imposed, the adjudicatory chamber applied the principle of lex mitior and art. 11 of the 2018 edition of the FCE, which stipulates a maximum limit on the applicable sanction. Consequently, Messrs Blatter and Valcke have both been sanctioned with bans from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for a period of six years and eight months. In addition, fines to the amount of CHF 1,000,000 have been imposed on both Messrs Blatter and Valcke.

The motivated decisions were notified to Messrs Blatter and Valcke today, and have also been published on legal.fifa.com. As the previous bans from taking part in all football-related activity imposed on Messrs Blatter and Valcke by the independent Ethics Committee in 2015 and 2016 have not yet been purged, the bans notified today will only come into force upon the expiry of the previous bans (i.e. on 8 October 2021 and 8 October 2025, respectively).

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