Three top Fifa officials ‘awarded themselves £55m’

Former high-ranking Fifa officials Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner awarded themselves pay rises and bonuses worth $80m (£55m) over five years, say Fifa lawyers.

Football’s governing body revealed the contracts of ex-president Blatter, fired ex-secretary general Valcke and sacked former finance director Kattner one day after a Swiss police raid.

Documents and electronic data were seized during Thursday’s operation, which relates to investigations into Blatter and Valcke.

Suspected of criminal mismanagement of Fifa money, Blatter and Valcke were banned for six and 12 years respectively by the governing body’s ethics committee in February. Both deny wrongdoing.

A statement for the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), which carried out the investigations, read: “Documents and electronic data were seized and will now be examined to determine their relevance to the ongoing proceedings.

“The investigations still relate only to the persons named in earlier statements issued by the OAG and further persons unknown. As proceedings are ongoing, no further information can be given at present.” BBC Sport