World football governing body, FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against its former president, Sepp Blatter, over the mismanagement of the finances of its museum in Zurich.
FIFA said that funds which should have been channelled into the development of football were used in refurbishing a building it doesn’t own.
“The complaint includes the entire project costs at CHF 500 million ($564.59 million), and identifies that the previous FIFA administration poured CHF 140 million into renovating and refurbishing a building that the organization doesn’t own, while also locking itself into a long-term rental agreement on unfavourable terms when compared to standard market rates, which, in total, will cost FIFA CHF 360 million by the date of expiration in 2045,” FIFA said in a statement.
“That is half a billion Swiss Francs that could and should have been channelled into the development of global football.”
Reacting to the accusations, Blatter’s lawyer, Lorenz Erni said that they are “baseless and are vehemently repudiated”.
Blatter presided over FIFA for 17 years until he was banned due to criminal proceedings against him in 2015.
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