Blatter among ex-officials to enrich themselves - FIFA

SENIOR STAFF

The report added that Valcke and Kattner, as senior staff members, also secured clauses in their contracts which guaranteed severance payments and indemnities even if they were terminated for just cause.

Blatter was banned for eight years, later reduced to six, by FIFA's ethics committee in December and Valcke has been banned for 12 years. Kattner was fired by FIFA on May 23.

The report was released around one hour after the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced that it had searched FIFA's headquarters on Thursday "with the aim of confirming existing findings and obtaining further information."

The OAG, which seized documents and electronic data, said the investigation concerned people named in previous statements and unknown suspects in the corruption probe that has engulfed FIFA over the past year.

"The OAG received contracts of Mr. Blatter, Valcke and Kattner," a spokeswoman said on Friday by email.

Infantino was not under investigation, the OAG said.

A source close to FIFA told Reuters that the OAG visit related to the sacking of Kattner and that FIFA officials had been cooperative in helping them to collect relevant documents.

German newspaper Die Welt had reported on Thursday that Infantino was facing investigation over possible ethics breaches.

Die Welt said it had seen emails suggesting that Infantino had ordered senior FIFA officials to delete recordings of a controversial meeting of the FIFA Council, formerly the executive committee, before last month's Congress in Mexico City.

FIFA's ethics committee said no formal proceedings had been started against Infantino.

FIFA was swept into new controversy when its Congress in Mexico passed a resolution giving the FIFA Council the power to appoint or dismiss members of its independent watchdog.

This effectively gave the Council, headed by Infantino, the right to fire ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, ethics investigator Cornel Borbely and the head of the audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala.

Scala, who had overseen the FIFA reforms, resigned in protest the following day.