German football great Franz Beckenbauer on Wednesday became the latest FIFA official named as under investigation, along with FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar and several other former executive committee members.
The Ethics Committee of the scandal-hit body was given the right to disclose information about cases by FIFA's executive committee on Tuesday and wasted no time in taking advantage of its new freedom.
Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as a player and coach and a former FIFA executive committee member, has had his case passed to the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee for a decision.
Villar, president of the Spanish Football Federation and a vice-president of both FIFA and European governing body UEFA, has also had his case passed on to the Ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
No details were given of the reasons for the investigations against Beckenbauer or Villar.
The Ethics Committee confirmed that, as widely reported, “proceedings are ongoing” against FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini “regarding a payment of CHF 2 million from FIFA to Michel Platini in February 2011”.
Both men have already been given 90-day provisional bans pending their full investigations.
Suspended FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke's "ongoing proceedings" were also confirmed. The Ethics Committee said his case "related to the suspicion of misuse of expenses and other infringements of FIFA’s rules and regulations".
The committee also said six other former FIFA executive committee members were under investigation. All have been suspended or have resigned from office.
"Formal investigation proceedings relating to the suspicion of infringements of the FIFA Code of Ethics are amongst others ongoing against Worawi Makudi, Jeffrey Webb, Ricardo Teixeira, Amos Adamu, Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolás Leoz," said the statement.
FIFA was plunged into crisis in May when the US Department of Justice indicted 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives on a series of corruption charges.
Image: Former Germany player and coach Franz Beckenbauer.
Photograph: Thomas Peter/Files/Reuters
