U.S. Success Puts Focus on Swiss Failures in FIFA Corruption Case

It resulted in Lauber’s salary being cut by 8 percent for one year. He is appealing the decision. His lawyer, Lorenz Erni, also represents Blatter in his criminal case. In Switzerland, that is not considered a conflict of interest.

Two years earlier, Olivier Thormann, one of the lead investigators looking into FIFA, was forced off the case after he became the subject of an investigation into allegations of violating secrecy, bribery and favoritism in his handling of inquiries into the soccer body. Thormann, who was suspended, was cleared of all accusations of wrongdoing but still removed from the case.

There are also doubts about the progress of other active corruption cases.

A trial into an irregular payment between German organizers of the 2006 World Cup and the Blatter-run FIFA in 2005 briefly opened last month before being adjourned because of the coronavirus pandemic. Should the trial of the four Germans accused in the case not be completed this month, it could collapse because the statute of limitations are set expire shortly.

Recent reports in Switzerland and France also revealed that a federal judge told prosecutors last month that they need more evidence to strengthen a criminal case that alleges a high-ranking Qatari soccer and television company executive, Nasser al-Khelaifi, provided a luxury Italian villa to Jerome Valcke, then FIFA’s then secretary general. Both men deny any wrongdoing.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/sports/soccer/switzerland-fifa-blatter-corruption.html