FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been cleared of anny financial impropriety by the prosecutor’s office in Zurich.
The public prosecutor confirmed that the investigation into Blatter – initiated after a complaint by 11 members of the FIFA executive committee – has now been closed
“The complainants…had accused Joseph Blatter of actions which they themselves had collectively approved,” said a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
“In this regard, the complaint was not only reprehensible, which is self-evident under the given circumstances, but also bordering on false accusation.”
Responding to the statement, Blatter said: “The fact that this investigation has been closed justifies the trust placed in my person at the FIFA Congress in Seoul on May 30, 2002.
“I hope, for the good of the game and all those who love and serve it, that we will never again see such a campaign, which was unjust and based purely upon slander and groundless complaints.”
“The whole matter has been a dirty game that has caused unnecessary and untold damage to the image of football,the game’s world governing body and not least that of its president.
“I have chosen to refuse any legal redress or compensation due to me.
“I would rather follow the proposal of the prosecutor’s office that FIFA, as an injured party, covers the costs of this frivolous process brought by FIFA executive committee members by making a donation to a charitable organisation in the canton of Zurich.”
The complaint stemmmed from a statement made by then FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen, who was replaced when Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA on the eve of the World Cup finals.
