Tangled corruption scandal that football's governing body seems to be involved in, is now one step away from the top of the organization, as Sepp Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke has been suspended. The Secretary General has been put on leave over allegations he may have been involved in an improper deal to resell 2014 World Cup tickets for a lucrative profit. The Frenchman has been in his role at FIFA since 2007 has been relieved of his duties.
FIFA issued a statement that read -- Valcke would be "released from his duties effective immediately until further notice." Valcke's lawyer says Valcke has denied allegations about the sale of World Cup tickets. The news came hours after former Israeli soccer player Benny Alon said at a news conference that he agreed in 2013 to pay cash to Valcke to secure plum World Cup tickets. He said the plan was to then sell the tickets to fans at a markup and split the proceeds with Valcke. Alon says the deal fell through and he never paid the soccer official any cash.
FIFA controls the rights to sell all the World Cup tickets and has sanctioned officials in the past for reselling the coveted World Cup spots at a higher price. Alon's allegations come on top of ongoing probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Attorney General's Office into corruption at FIFA following the indictment of 14 senior soccer officials and sports marketing executives in May.
Earlier this week U.S. and Swiss authorities said they were expanding the investigations and more arrests were expected Valcke faces no charges in either the U.S. or Swiss investigations of FIFA.