FIFA on Wednesday said it had fired Sepp Blatter’s former right-hand man, Jerome Valcke, the latest casualty in a multi-layered scandal that has brought down the most powerful figures in world football. Valcke was FIFA’s general secretary for nearly a decade, working alongside the body’s then-president Blatter, who has been banned for eight years over an ethics violation.
Valcke, 55, was himself facing a possible nine-year ban sought by FIFA investigators over his alleged role in a scheme to sell 2014 World Cup tickets on the black market. In a statement, FIFA said his employment contract had been “terminated”, even before a verdict in the ticket case was decided. “The FIFA emergency committee decided, on 9 January 2016, to dismiss Jerome Valcke from the position of FIFA secretary general with immediate effect,” the statement said.
Valcke’s US-based lawyer Barry Berke said his client “remains confident that he will be fully vindicated and history will recognise all of his contributions to the sport he loves”. “(He) is proud of all that was accomplished for the game of football during his long tenure as Secretary General,” Berke added in an email sent to AFP. FIFA said that Markus Kattner will continue to serve as acting general secretary, the body’s number two post.
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