Swiss
authorities carry out fresh house searches in FIFA case
Send a link to a friend
[November 30, 2016]
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss
authorities have searched more houses as part of their criminal
investigation into suspected corruption in world soccer and have
added former FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi to their list of
suspects, they said on Wednesday.
"The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland confirms
that on 23 November 2016 it conducted house searches with the
support of the Federal Office of Police (fedpol) at various
locations in the German-speaking part of Switzerland," the OAG said
in an emailed statement.
"The measures were carried out as part of the investigations
relating to a payment of 6.7 million euros ($7.1 million) made in
April 2005 by the German Football Association (Deutscher
Fussball-Bund, DFB) to Robert Louis-Dreyfus."
That payment which went via soccer's world governing body FIFA,
according to German authorities, to the late Adidas boss Dreyfus,
was a return of a loan made years earlier when Germany was bidding
to host the 2006 World Cup.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/30/images/ads/current/elkhart_grain_daily_sda_022614.png)
It has since been linked with payments to FIFA officials via the
account of then World Cup chief and Germany's former soccer great
Franz Beckenbauer.
Beckenbauer is under investigation by Swiss authorities, who have
opened criminal proceedings against him and two former presidents of
the DFB in connection with Germany's successful bid for the 2006
World Cup.
Beckenbauer has previously admitted to making mistakes but has
denied wrongdoing.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/113016PICS/sports53.jpg)
A TV team is reflected in a logo of FIFA a meeting of the FIFA
Council at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland October 13, 2016.
REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/30/images/ads/current/modern_brake_lda_christmas_2015.png)
The affair has shocked soccer-mad Germany and forced the resignation
of former DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach last year. He has since
been banned by FIFA for a year.
The DFB's own report into alleged irregularities over the awarding
of the 2006 World Cup was published in March.
It said that, while there was no evidence of Germany paying FIFA
members in return for votes, payments were made to at least one
former FIFA official through a web of accounts involving several
other firms or individuals, including Beckenbauer.
($1 = 0.9399 euros)
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/directory_buttons.png) |