The deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Djimbaraye Bourngar, has opened formal proceedings against Joseph Blatter, former President of FIFA, Jérôme Valcke, former Secretary General of FIFA and Markus Kattner, former Acting Secretary General and Director of Finance & Corporate Services. The investigatory chamber will investigate possible violations of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 15 (Loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) and art. 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) in the context of salaries and bonuses paid to Mr Blatter, Mr Valcke and Mr Kattner as well as other provisions included in the contracts of these three individuals.

Furthermore, the investigatory chamber will investigate a possible violation of art. 16 (Confidentiality) of the FCE by Mr Kattner. Under the FIFA Code of Ethics, the investigatory chamber shall examine all circumstances of the cases equally. For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the investigatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time.

• This media release was originally published by the international football federation (FIFA) on 9 September 2016. To view the original, please click here.