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FIFA SCANDAL

CORRUPTION

Blatter to appear at Lausanne appeal court

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter will appear in person at the Court of Arbitration for Sport for his August 25th appeal against his ban from football, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

Blatter to appear at Lausanne appeal court
Sepp Blatter is currently banned for six years. File photo: Valeriano di Domenico/AFP

“Mr. Blatter will go in person with his lawyer Lorenz Erni,” Blatter spokesman Thomas Renggli told AFP.
   
Fifa's ethics committee initially suspended Blatter along with his one-time heir apparent Michel Platini in December for eight years over ethics violations.
   
Those bans were cut to six years in February.
   
Following Platini's appeal, the Lausanne-based CAS reduced Platini's suspension to four years.
   
Both men were thrown out of football over a two million franc ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) payment that Blatter authorized to Platini in 2011.
   
Fifa's ethics judges deemed the payment “disloyal” to world football's governing body.
   
Blatter and Platini are the top names in a long list of football power players who have been brought down in a scandal that erupted in May of last year.
   
Blatter has claimed innocence, insisting he cannot be held responsible for the corruption committed by others.
   
In June, Fifa released details of an internal audit which found that Blatter and two top deputies — Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner — enriched themselves with more than $80 million dollars in irregular bonuses and other benefits.
   
Blatter, who is the target of a criminal probe in Switzerland, was replaced as Fifa president by Gianni Infantino in February.

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CORRUPTION

Barçagate: Police raid FC Barcelona offices and arrest former president

Police raided the offices of FC Barcelona on Monday, carrying out several arrests just six days ahead of the club's presidential elections, a Catalan regional police spokesman told AFP.

Barçagate: Police raid FC Barcelona offices and arrest former president
Barcelona's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu is among the arrested. Photo: Josep Lago/AFP

Spain's Cadena Ser radio said one of those arrested was former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned in October, along with CEO Oscar Grau and the club's head of legal services.

But the police refused to confirm names, saying only “arrests are taking place” and adding that the operation was being run by officers from the financial crimes unit.

“We are in the process of carrying out an operation right now with agents of the financial crimes unit,” the police spokesman told AFP.

According to reports in the Spanish media, the operation is linked to last year's investigation into the 'BarçaGate' scandal, which saw the club deny hiring a company to criticise current and former players on social media to improve the image of the then-president Bartomeu.

Cadena Ser said Barca paid €1 million in six separate invoices to the company I3 Ventures, with whom the club have since cut ties.

Bartomeu resigned in October, after mounting pressure following months of controversy and a dramatic decline in performances on the pitch.

His successor is due to be elected on Sunday, when club members will choose between the final three candidates, Joan Laporta, Toni Freixa and Victor Font.

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