FIFA sends internal investigation to Swiss authorities

FIFA has sent 1,300 pages of internal investigation reports into suspected bribery and corruption to Switzerland's attorney general. However, the footballl organisation said Friday it was legally barred from publishing the full reports or commenting on the evidence or conclusions.

Launched soon after the dramatic arrest of several top officials at a luxury Zurich hotel before the FIFA Congress in May 2015, the 22-month review, conducted by American law firm Quinn Emmanuel and their Swiss counterparts NKF, reviewed more than 2.5 million documents and interviewed dozens of witness before revealing its findings.

Those have been sent to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, who will share their information with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

Under its new leadership, Fifa has sought to portray itself as the victim of corruption by its officials. It has offered to co-operate fully with official investigations on both sides of the Atlantic and its submission on Friday was part of that strategy.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: "FIFA committed to conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation of the facts so we could hold wrongdoers within football accountable and cooperate with the authorities.

"We have now completed that investigation and handed the evidence over to the authorities, who will continue to pursue those who enriched themselves and abused their positions of trust in football. FIFA will now return its focus to the game, for fans and players throughout the world.

Allegations of bribery and fraud have surrounded FIFA for decades but they threatened to bring the entire organisation down in 2015 when 34 football officials and businessmen were indicted by the DOJ on charges related to broadcast contracts, sponsorship deals and tickets in North, South and Central American football. In the meantime, criminal investigations continue into a number of individuals along with the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

This prompted the Swiss authorities to start their own investigation into FIFA's activities, and separate inquiries have been launched in Australia, Costa Rica and Germany.

With no sign of these investigations being close to completion, they have already accounted for many of the biggest names in football over the last few decades. Blatter, ex-FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, former UEFA boss Michel Platini and ex-CONCACAF bosses Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb are just some of the game's power-brokers who have been toppled and disgraced along the way.