ZURICH—FIFA President Sepp Blatter was placed under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities Friday as a probe into soccer corruption reached the highest levels and left his grip on the top job in peril.

The Swiss attorney general’s office opened proceedings against Blatter for possible criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of FIFA money. Authorities also searched Blatter’s office and seized data.

The announcements came as FIFA wrapped up a two-day executive committee meeting and marked another stunning day of turmoil for the governing body and Blatter, who have been targeted by American and Swiss investigations into corruption.

The 79-year-old Blatter is set to step down in February as a result of those probes, but Friday’s events made an early exit seem inevitable.

The opening of formal criminal proceedings against Blatter could lead the FIFA ethics committee to provisionally suspend him from duty.

Blatter’s U.S.-based lawyer, Richard Cullen, said in a statement his client was co-operating and that “certainly no mismanagement occurred.”

The latest allegations also threaten UEFA President Michel Platini, Blatter’s onetime protege and favourite to succeed him in February’s election. Platini was questioned as a witness Friday about taking a “disloyal payment” from Blatter of 2 million Swiss francs (about $2.7 million Cdn) of FIFA money in February 2011.

At the time, Platini was already tipped as a future FIFA leader though unlikely to run against Blatter in that year’s presidential election — instead backing the incumbent against Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar. Blatter was re-elected in May 2011 after Bin Hammam withdrew amid bribery allegations.

According to Switzerland’s attorney general, the money was supposedly paid nine years later for Platini’s work as Blatter’s football adviser at FIFA from 1999-2002.

Under Swiss law, a payment is classified disloyal if it is against the best interest of the employer — in this case FIFA.

Platini said in a statement issued by UEFA that he was entitled to receive the money.

“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,” Platini said. The statement did not address the apparent nine-year wait for payment.

The American probe rocked FIFA on May 27, when senior officials suspected of bribery and racketeering were arrested in dawn raids at a luxury Zurich hotel two days before Blatter’s re-election.

Blatter is a stated target of that case but has always denied being corrupt, blaming individuals who are outside of FIFA’s control

But the Swiss allegations suggest authorities suspect Blatter of criminal mismanagement of FIFA money to shore up his own power base — political enrichment, if not taking money himself.

Blatter had been set to hold a news conference for international media after the executive committee meeting, but it was first postponed and then suddenly cancelled.

FIFA later issued a statement saying the Swiss attorney general “conducted interviews and gathered documents pursuant to its investigation,” adding that it was co-operating with the probe but would not make further comments.

Blatter is the first person publicly revealed to be formally quizzed as a suspect in the Swiss case, which FIFA instigated last November when it complained about possible money laundering in the 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests won by Russia and Qatar.

His right-hand man, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, was suspended last week after being implicated in a scheme to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup on the black market.

Friday’s allegations also relate to undervalued World Cup broadcasting contracts for the Caribbean that Blatter agreed to with disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner in 2005.

“There is as suspicion that, in the implementation of this agreement, Joseph Blatter also violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of FIFA,” the Swiss federal office said.

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Warner, who was a longtime FIFA power broker supporting Blatter at elections, was indicted in the wide-ranging U.S. case in May.

Authorities in Trinidad have postponed a hearing to determine whether the U.S. will have to restart extradition proceedings against Warner.

Warner's attorneys had requested more time so they could travel to the U.S. and discuss extradition terms. Warner is fighting extradition on U.S. charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering in the FIFA corruption case. He has to report twice weekly to a police station and his passport has been seized.

“(W)e 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,” Blatter’s lawyer Cullen wrote.

The statement appeared to focus only on the Warner contract, and not the payment to Platini.

Statement provided by the Swiss Attorney General:

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has opened criminal proceedings against the President of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on suspicion of criminal mismanagement as well as — alternatively — on suspicion of misappropriation.

Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened on 24 September 2015 on suspicion of criminal mismanagement (Article 158 Swiss Criminal Code / SCC) and — alternatively — misappropriation (Article 138 Swiss Criminal Code / SCC).

On the one hand, the OAG suspects that on 12 September 2005 Mr. Joseph Blatter has signed a contract with the Caribbean Football Union (with Jack Warner as the President at this time); this contract was unfavourable for FIFA. On the other hand, there is a suspicion that, in the implementation of this agreement, Joseph Blatter also violated his fiduciary duties and acted against the interest of FIFA and/or FIFA Marketing & TV AG.

Additionally, Mr. Joseph Blatter is suspected of a disloyal payment of CHF (Swiss francs) 2 Million to Michel Platini, President of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA, which was allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002; this payment was executed in February 2011.

On 25 September 2015, representatives of the OAG interrogated the defendant Joseph Blatter following a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee. At the same time, Michel Platini was heard as a person asked to provide information (Article 178 of the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure).

Furthermore, the OAG conducted on 25 September 2015 a house search at FIFA Headquarters with the support of the Federal Criminal Police. The office of the FIFA President has been searched and data seized.

As for all defendants, the presumption of innocence applies for Mr. Joseph Blatter.

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