Soccer’s global governing body Fifa has failed in an attempt to reopen a criminal probe against its former president Sepp Blatter over the sale of World Cup broadcasting rights to the Caribbean Football Union.
The case was dropped by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General last year, but Fifa was seeking to overturn the decision at the country’s Federal Criminal Court.
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However, in a verdict released today, the court ruled that the OAG had acted properly.
Blatter, who was head of Fifa for 17 years until 2015, was accused of allowing rights for the World Cups of 2010 and 2014 to be sold to the CFU for $600,000 in a deal in 2005.
The fee was regarded as being well below the market rate for the rights, at as little as 5 per cent of the real value, according to Campaign Group NewFifaNow.
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In 2015, it was revealed that Jack Warner, the long-time president of the CFU, and a supporter of Blatter, had sub-licensed the rights to his own company.
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By GlobalDataBlatter remains the subject of a second criminal investigation being conducted by the OAG relating to a payment of SFr2 million ($2.08 million) he made to then Uefa president Michel Platini in 2011.
The transaction resulted in Fifa bans for both men, and contributed to them losing their roles as heads of soccer's leading governing bodies.
Blatter and Platini have always denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the payment was for work carried out by Platini between 1998 and 2002.
