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 It said Blatter was interrogated after a meeting of FIFA's executive
committee in Zurich, and authorities carried out a search at the
organization's headquarters on Friday.
"The office of the FIFA President has been searched and data
seized," the office of the attorney general (OAG) said.
It was the first time that authorities investigating corruption in
the world's most popular sport had pointed the finger directly at
Blatter, the 79-year-old Swiss who has run its powerful governing
body for the past 17 years.
He has denied wrongdoing and his U.S. attorney said he was
cooperating with the Swiss probe.
A source close to FIFA said that as Blatter has not been arrested,
charged or indicted, it would probably be for him to decide whether
he stays in his post until February, when he is due to step down.
However, the source said: "It is over for him now, it is finished."
The news of the investigation broke shortly after FIFA had abruptly
canceled a Blatter press conference at 15 minutes' notice, offering
no explanation.
He had been due to speak for the first time since his number two,
Jerome Valcke, was suspended last week following accusations
regarding ticket sales at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Valcke
denied the allegations.
In a sign of concern over the implications of the deepening
investigation, Russia was quick to say that it would not affect its
hosting of the 2018 World Cup, one of the biggest and most lucrative
events in sport.
FIFA's awarding of the 2018 and 2022 competitions to Russia and
Qatar is one of the strands under scrutiny from U.S. and Swiss
authorities investigating corruption in the organization -- a worry
for tournament sponsors such as McDonald's Corp, Coca-Cola and Visa.
The scandal exploded in May, when 14 soccer officials and sports
marketing executives were indicted. Seven were arrested by Swiss
police in a dawn raid on a five-star Zurich hotel.
PLATINI TESTIFIES
The Swiss OAG said Blatter had been questioned by its
representatives, and that Michel Platini, the former French midfield
soccer star who runs European soccer body UEFA, had also been asked
to give information.
Platini is favorite to win the election to replace Blatter when he
steps down in February. Blatter once described their relationship as
"like father and son", but it broke down irretrievably earlier this
year when Platini urged him to quit.
A Swiss law enforcement source said that Platini had provided Swiss
prosecutors with evidence against Blatter and was not regarded as a
target of investigators at this point.
Swiss investigators have been putting together their case against
Blatter for some time, a law enforcement official said.
The official said Blatter is not in custody and is free to travel,
though he has largely avoided leaving Switzerland since May.
According to the Swiss criminal code, Blatter could, if convicted,
face a custodial sentence of up to five years depending on the
circumstances of the offence.
The OAG statement said he was suspected of a "disloyal payment" of 2
million Swiss francs ($2.05 million) to Platini at the expense of
FIFA, allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and
June 2002.
The payment was executed in February 2011, the OAG said. It did not
say why the payment was "disloyal" or what became of the money.
Platini said in a statement: "Regarding the payment that was made to
me, I wish to state that this amount relates to work which I carried
out under a contract with FIFA and I was pleased to have been able
to clarify all matters relating to this with the authorities."
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CARIBBEAN CONTRACT
The OAG said it also suspected Blatter of signing a contract in 2005
with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), then headed by Trinidadian
soccer baron Jack Warner, that was unfavorable for FIFA and had
"violated his fiduciary duties", or duties of trust.
Richard Cullen, a U.S. lawyer for Blatter, said: "Mr. Blatter is
cooperating and we are confident that when the Swiss authorities
have a chance to review the documents and the evidence they will see
that the contract was properly prepared and negotiated by the
appropriate staff members of FIFA who were routinely responsible for
such contracts, and certainly no mismanagement occurred."
According to a FIFA document seen by Reuters, the 2005 agreement
required that FIFA be paid both up-front “rights fees” and a 50
percent share of revenue from "broadcast sponsorship and commercial
airtime opportunities".
But according to the document -- a July 2011 letter signed by FIFA’s
now suspended secretary general Valcke -- Warner's CFU did not make
any of the payments that were due.
FIFA said in a statement on Friday that it had been cooperating with
the Swiss authorities since May and had complied with all requests
for documents, data and other information. "We will continue this
level of cooperation throughout the investigation," it said.
A spokeswoman for U.S. prosecutors declined to comment. The FBI said
it did not comment on other agencies' investigations.
Damian Collins, a British member of parliament and co-founder of
campaign group NewFIFANow, said the opening of the criminal probe
against Blatter and the questioning of Platini showed the need to
overhaul soccer's governing body under an independent interim
administration.
"The house of FIFA is tumbling down," he said.
Blatter has survived a series of scandals during his term in
office, including widespread accusations that Qatar bought the
right to stage the 2022 World Cup. Qatar has always denied any
wrongdoing.
Despite widespread calls for Blatter's resignation when the U.S.
indictments were issued in May, he refused to withdraw his candidacy
for a fifth term at the helm of FIFA. He was duly re-elected,
telling delegates: "Football needs a strong and experienced leader."
As the scandal reverberated around the world and his position became
untenable, he announced only days later that he would step down,
though for the time being he remains in office until the election of
his successor.
($1 = 0.9757 Swiss francs)
(Additional reporting by Joshua Franklin, Simon Evans and David
Ingram)
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