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17 Sep, 2015 20:00

FIFA Secretary General suspended, investigated over 'a series of allegations'

The international football body FIFA has suspended its Secretary General Jerome Valcke from his duties “until further notice”. A formal investigation has been requested by the FIFA Ethics Committee.

The official FIFA statement speaks of a “series of allegations” involving Valcke.

Brazilian media previously alleged that Valcke had been involved in illegal schemes to sell tickets to the 2014 football World Championship, which earned him some €2 billion (nearly $2.3 billion).

The accusations came from former footballer Benny Alon, who had been working as a consultant for the company JB Sports Marketing when Valcke allegedly got involved in a scheme to resell over 8,000 tickets above face value.

Vlacke's lawyer, cited by Reuters, says he denies the allegations.

READ MORE: US & Swiss prosecutors seize more assets in FIFA corruption probe

FIFA has been rocked by a corruption scandal for months now, with Valcke amid those allegedly involved. In May, several other officials were arrested following a US investigation into bribe taking, the misappropriation of some tens of millions of US dollars, the fixing of illicit broadcast deals and other forms of corruption. Charges were brought against a total of 14 officials.

Valcke's suspension means that he will not be attending Friday's celebrations in Moscow to mark 1,000 days until the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

READ MORE: FIFA passes resolution assuring ‘full support’ of 2018 World Cup in Russia - Blatter

Since 2007, Jerome Valcke has been seen as the right-hand man of long-time FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Blatter himself was hit with a number of accusations amid the corruption scandal, although no official charges were brought against him. Despite this, he secured re-election in late May, beating his opponent 133 votes to 73 and starting his fifth term.

However, later Blatter said his mandate did “not appear to be supported by everybody” and vowed to resign in February 2016. Jerome Valcke was expected to resign with him.

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