DOHA (Qatar): FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over the finances of its loss-making museum in Zurich, the international football federation said on Tuesday.
In a statement FIFA said it had “lodged a criminal complaint with Zurich’s cantonal prosecutor as evidence of suspected criminal mismanagement by FIFA’s former management and companies appointed by them in relation to the (museum) has surfaced.”
According to FIFA, the museum generated a bill of 500 million Swiss francs ($564 million) that instead “could and should have been channeled into the development of global football”.
“We came to the conclusion that we had no choice other than to report the case to state prosecutors, not least because the current management of FIFA also has fiduciary responsibilities to the organisation and we intend to live up to them, even if those before us dismally failed to,” said FIFA deputy secretary general Alasdair Bell.
The Zurich-based museum, a landmark Blatter project, was opened in February 2016 by current FIFA president Gianni Infantino just after he was elected as the successor to the disgraced Blatter.
Under Blatter, FIFA spent $140 million on refurbishing and renovating an office building and signed an “unfavourable” long-term rental agreement above market rates that will cost the organisation $360 million by its date of expiration in 2045.
