Thursday 17 March 2016 20:27, UK
The office of the attorney general of Switzerland has announced that criminal proceedings have been opened against former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.
Frenchman Valcke was formally dismissed from his FIFA role in January and was banned from all football-related activity for 12 years and fined 100,000 Swiss francs (£71,400) by FIFA's ethics committee last month.
Valcke, once former president Sepp Blatter's right-hand man, was banned over misconduct offences including involvement in a World Cup tickets scandal, television rights sales and using a private jet for personal reasons.
He negotiated to sell World Cup television rights to the Caribbean for below their true value, and attempted to destroy evidence, according to FIFA's ethics committee, and it is these offences which resulted in searches and interviews by the office of the attorney general of Switzerland on Thursday.
A statement read: "As part of the ongoing series of cases relating to FIFA, the office of the attorney general of Switzerland (OAG) is conducting criminal proceedings against the former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke on suspicion of various acts of criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 Swiss criminal code) and other offences.
"The OAG opened the proceedings in response to two criminal complaints in which allegations were made against Jerome Valcke in connection with the matters investigated by the FIFA ethics committee.
"The OAG began investigations in this connection and conducted searches and interviews on March 17, 2016 - no arrest has been made. The presumption of innocence applies."
