FIFA’s Sepp Blatter may have been banned for eight years from the game but he is still receiving his president’s salary from world soccer’s governing body, a spokesman for FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee told Reuters on Monday.
Blatter was suspended for 90 days by FIFA on Oct 8 and then banned from the game for eight years last month for ethics violations over a $2 million payment FIFA made to European soccer boss Michel Platini with Blatter’s approval in 2011.
But Blatter, a Swiss national who has been president of FIFA since 1998, will continue to be paid until a new president is elected on Feb 26, the spokesman Andreas Bantel said. That would mean Blatter would have been paid for nearly five months during which time he was unable to carry out his duties, and a period in which FIFA has appointed an acting president, African soccer head Issa Hayatou.
The compensation sub-committee of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee recently ruled that it could stop Blatter’s bonuses but not, according to his contract, his salary.
“Until the election of a new president on February 26, Mr Blatter is the elected president and therefore – according to his contract – is entitled to receive his remuneration,” Bantel said.
Blatter’s U.S. lawyer and his Switzerland-based spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
FIFA is facing the worst corruption crisis in it history as a total of 41 individuals and entities, including many former FIFA officials, have been charged with corruption-related offences in the United States. The U.S. investigation is far from over and FIFA also faces a parallel Swiss probe.
Blatter’s bonuses have been stopped because he was not carrying out his duties of supervising the organization, including its general secretary.
Only last week, FIFA announced that Jerome Valcke was fired from his position as general secretary. It gave no reason but an investigation had followed allegations of corruption related to World Cup ticket sales.
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatte was banned from the game for eight years for ethics violations.
COMPENSATION A SECRET
“The duty of supervision is listed explicitly in the target agreements for the payment of bonuses. The compensation committee has therefore decided, at its last meeting, not to make any further bonus payments to Mr Blatter,” said Bantel.
The size of Blatter’s compensation from FIFA has remained secret although reforms to be voted on at the organization’s February Congress call for the disclosure of individual compensation for the president and top executives.
It is also unclear what Hayatou is getting paid to be acting president.
FIFA’s finances may have taken a blow in the past year because of the costs and distractions of the corruption scandal. According to a report from the UK’s Press Association late last year, the organization suffered its first loss last year since 2001.
Bantel declined to discuss what proportion of Blatter’s payments came from his bonuses.
The FIFA Ethics Committee said the payment to Platini, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, lacked transparency and presented conflicts of interest, though both men denied any wrongdoing. Platini has also been banned from soccer for eight years.
Both Blatter and Platini have said they will appeal against their bans.
Related On HuffPost:
15 Reasons Why FIFA Is The Worst
15 Reasons Why FIFA Is The Worst
Share
1
of
19
Its Former President Took Major Bribes
Former FIFA president Joo Havelange took $1 million in bribes from a sports marketing company, said an ethics committee report. The money crossed now-president Sepp Blatter’s desk, but he claimed he didn’t know it was a bribe.
AP
Its Former President Took Major Bribes
Former FIFA president Joo Havelange took $1 million in bribes from a sports marketing company, said an ethics committee report. The money crossed now-president Sepp Blatter’s desk, but he claimed he didn’t know it was a bribe.
AP
image
The Current President Sucked Up To A Dictator
FIFA president Sepp Blatter paid a friendly visit to Liberian president Charles Taylor in 1999 to thank the dictator for his support in the previous year’s FIFA elections. Taylor would later be found guilty of war crimes at The Hague, but his atrocities were well known at the time of Blatter’s visit, says journalist Andrew Jennings.
AP
image
And Other Pleasant Fellows
In 2009, Blatter handed a FIFA medal to Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin, just as the politician had been suspected of torture and voting fraud.
AP
image
Some Officials Make Racist Statements
“I do not believe a Jew can ever be a referee at this level. It’s hard work and, you know, Jews don’t like hard work.” – FIFA senior vice-president Julio Grondona, on refereeing standards in Argentina, in 2003.
AP
image
And Others Have Tricky Fingers
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) vice-president Jos Maria Marin was caught pocketing a winner’s medal meant for a player at the Sao Paulo Juniors Cup in 2012. He has since been named CBF president.
YouTube
embed
It Limits Freedom of the Press
FIFA threatened to ban reporters from the 2010 World Cup if they wrote stories that brought the organization into “disrepute.”
Getty Images
image
It Banned A Soccer Legend When He Alleged Corruption
Pel once accused the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) of corruption after its chief, Ricardo Teixeira, allegedly asked for a $1 million bribe as the soccer legend sought broadcast rights to the 1994 World Cup. Then-FIFA president Joo Havelange subsequently struck Pels name from a guest list for the World Cup draw in 1993.
AP
image
It Banned Newspaper Vending Near Stadiums in 2010
FIFA banned street vendors from selling newspapers near stadiums at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, despite it being an activity that helps poorer citizens make money.
Getty Images
image
Officials Allegedly Solicit Bribes To Support Bids
Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (pictured) asked for a reported 2.5 million payment as countries looked to snag the 2018 World Cup, former English bid chairman Lord Triesman told a select committee in 2011. He also alleged that Nicols Leoz, a FIFA member from Paraguay, asked for a knighthood.
AP
image
Bribery Allegations Surround Qatar’s World Cup Bid
Former FIFA vice-president Mohammed Bin Hammam paid soccer officials US $5 million to support Qatar’s World Cup bid, claims The Sunday Times. Qatar denies wrongdoing and says Bin Hammam had no official role in its bid.
Getty Images
image
And This Is How The President Responds
Sepp Blatter called criticism of Qatar’s successful World Cup bid “racist.” He also said that people were “plotting to destroy” FIFA, though he never specified who he was talking about.
Getty Images
image
Its People Dodge Taxes
FIFA executive Ricardo Teixeira was convicted in 2009 of smuggling goods through customs as he and Brazil’s national team returned from their World Cup victory in 1994. Teixeira threatened to cancel the victory parade if their baggage didn’t go through unchecked.
Getty Images
image
And Set Up Havens In Host Countries
FIFA demands tax exemptions from countries bidding on the World Cup. This includes its “revenues, profits, income, expenses, costs, investments and any and all kinds of payments,” according to a Dutch government memo.
AP
image
It Doesn’t Take Racism Very Seriously
Chelsea FC captain John Terry (right) was alleged to have racially abused Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand (left) during a game in 2011. How did Sepp Blatter respond? He downplayed the issue of racism, saying players should just settle it with a handshake. He later apologized.
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS 