Johannesburg: FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who has been handed immediate suspension and is under investigation over allegations of misconduct, has denied the charges against him and said that they were ‘fabricated and outrageous’.
Earlier, a FIFA statement had confirmed the news, saying that the 54-year-old was released from his duties until further notice, adding that a formal investigation was also requested by the FIFA Ethics Committee, Sport24 reported.
The allegations, which were denied by Valcke, were made by a consultant at company that claims Valcke’s involvement in a scam to sell World Cup 2014 tickets to Alon’s company at vastly inflated prices, thus taking a slice of the profits.
Valcke’s laywer’s statement said that he had never received or agreed to accept any money from Alon.
FIFA’s reputation has been severely tarnished after 14 sports marketing executives and football officials, including several from Zurich-based FIFA, were indicted by the United States in late May over corruption charges.
Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected for a fifth term in May as president, stood down from the position amidst an investigation into corruption charges that has plunged FIFA into an unprecedented crisis.
The election for the appointment of new FIFA president will take place on 26 February. (ANI)