Sepp Blatter calls for Fifa inquiry closure

Suspended president faces ethics committee hearing on day Swiss authorities freeze 50 bank accounts

Sepp Blatter appeared before the ethics committee with a bandaged cheek (AFP/Getty)

Sepp Blatter, the suspended president of Fifa, has begun his attempt to save his job and salvage his reputation when he appeared before the world governing body’s ethics committee in Zurich.

It was the first time he had entered Fifa’s headquarters since he was banned for 90 days in October. After the hearing, his lawyer Richard Cullen issued a statement which said: “Blatter looks forward to a decision in his favour, because the evidence requires it.

“The evidence demonstrates that president Blatter behaved properly and certainly did not violate Fifa’s code of ethics. This investigation should be closed and the suspension lifted.”

Blatter arrived at the hearing with a bandage on his face, his spokesman Thomas Renggli explaining that he had undergone a minor procedure to treat a skin problem on his cheek. He left without making any comment.

The ethics committee, which Blatter was instrumental in furnishing with extra powers in 2012, is due to give its verdict early next week. He insists it may not remove an elected president, and that only the full Fifa congress can do so.

The Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against him after the discovery of the payment of £1.3m from Fifa to Michel Platini in 2011. He could receive a life ban if he is found guilty of corruption in approving the payment or he could be suspended for several years because of a conflict of interest.

Platini, who was also banned for 90 days, has said he will not attend the hearing because he believes the result has already been decided.

The French head of Uefa, the European governing body, is alleged to have received the payment as uncontracted salary for working as Blatter’s adviser from 1999 to 2002.

Platini requested a salary of one million Swiss francs and Blatter has said he had a contract for SFr300,000 and a “gentleman’s agreement” for the remainder to be paid at a later date. He reportedly asked for the balance to be paid in 2010 and received it in February 2011.

Blatter was also due to be questioned about false accounting, as the payment was not included in financial reports from 2002 to 2011.

Yesterday, the Swiss Justice Ministry announced that a “high double-digit million amount” of Swiss francs related to Fifa had been frozen. “US authorities asked for documents related to 50 accounts at different banks, through which corruption money is supposed to have transited,” ministry spokesman Folco Galli said, confirming a report by Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

The move comes after German prosecutors asked Switzerland to help them look into a suspicious payment linked to Germany’s hosting of the 2006 World Cup.

Russia’s President ,Vladimir Putin, has called for Blatter to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. “He is a very respected person, he has done a lot for the development of world soccer,” Putin said. “That’s the one to be awarded Nobel Peace Prize.” If he is found guilty, at least he would not be the first winner to have been convicted of a crime.