adminLONDON. — FIFA President Sepp Blatter has agreed with the organisation’s lawyers that he will not use official FIFA platforms or personnel to issue statements in his defence in response to an investigation by Swiss prosecutors, two sources close to the matter said.
Two sets of lawyers, one representing Blatter individually and another representing FIFA as an organization, agreed that such statements would be more appropriate coming from Blatter’s lawyers than from FIFA personnel, the sources said.
The lawyers want to avoid a potential conflict of interest while FIFA itself looks into allegations of criminal mismanagement made by Swiss investigators against Blatter, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for FIFA’s press office declined to comment on the change of practice. Lawyers for Blatter in Switzerland declined to comment.
Blatter, under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities, has held the presidency of world soccer’s governing body since 1998 and previously served since 1981 as secretary general, the organisation’s No. 2 position.
Four days after winning a fifth term, Blatter rocked the world of soccer in June by saying he would step down in the wake of corruption investigations by US and Swiss authorities. He remains in office ahead of a scheduled February election.
Swiss prosecutors led by Attorney General Michael Lauber said last week they had opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.
Authorities interrogated Blatter at FIFA headquarters and seized unspecified data from his office.
FIFA’s press office has come to Blatter’s defense as recently as this month. A Swiss TV report on Sept. 11 alleged that Blatter personally signed a media contract that allowed a Caribbean soccer official to enrich himself. The next day, the press office issued a statement defending the handling of the contract. Blatter and the Caribbean official, Jack Warner, have said they did nothing wrong. — Reuters.
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