Swiss prosecutors are investigating 53 cases of possible money laundering as they look into Fifa’s handling of bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber said the “suspicious” cases had been reported by banks and that a “huge and complex” inquiry into Fifa could take months, even years, to complete.
Officials said the 53 are individuals and companies and that each case could involve many more transactions.
“We note positively that banks in Switzerland did fulfil their duties to file suspicious activity reports,” Lauber said.
“Partly in addition to the 104 banking relations already known to the authorities, banks announced 53 suspicious banking relations via the anti-money laundering framework of Switzerland.”
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Swiss authorities have set up a task force to look into the World Cup bids, which went to Russia for 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
It is one of two major fraud investigations that have rocked Fifa. US authorities last month charged 14 people in a separate bribery investigation.
Lauber said he “does not exclude” questioning Fifa president Joseph Blatter or general secretary Jerome Valcke, but neither is under suspicion.
He said nine terabytes of data had been seized, including at Fifa’s Zurich headquarters, and the probe would take time.
“The world of football needs to be patient. By its nature, this investigation will take more than the legendary 90 minutes” a football match takes, he said.
Lauber said he did not feel pressure with the next World Cup in Russia just three years away.
“I don’t care about the timetable of Fifa, I care about my timetable,” he said.
Senior Fifa official Domenico Scala has said there could be a revote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups if there was evidence of wrongdoing in the bidding.
Fifa is facing its biggest crisis because of the corruption inquiries. Four days after being elected to a fifth term on May 30, Blatter announced that he would resign.
US authorities have charged 14 people from North and South America accused of involvement in more than US$150 million (Dh551m) of bribes for deals.
Seven Fifa officials were detained at a luxury Zurich hotel as part the inquiry on May 27. They are now fighting extradition to the United States.
Last week, the European parliament called on Blatter to quit immediately and allow for an interim leader to launch reforms in the organisation.
But Fifa has repeated that the 79-year-old Swiss will continue until a successor is designated, probably by the end of the year.
The Fifa executive committee will meet in Zurich on July 20 to fix a date for the congress to elect Blatter’s successor. The vote will not be before December.
The scandal-plagued body has lost prestigious partnerships amid the scandal, losing the support of groups such as Nobel Peace Centre and Interpol.
The Interpol deal was a 10-year partnership with Fifa worth €20m (Dh82.5m) for its “Integrity in Sport programme”.
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