FIFA ethics committee bans Valcke for 12 years

World Soccer governing body, FIFA, on Friday (February 12) handed a 12 year ban on former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, becoming the latest high-profile soccer official to be kicked out of the sport.

Valcke was found guilty by FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert of misconduct over the sale of World Cup tickets, abuse of travel expenses, attempting to sell TV rights below their market value and destruction of evidence.

"Valcke acted against FIFA's best interests and caused considerable financial damage to FIFA, while his private and personal interests detracted him from his ability to properly perform his duties as the Secretary General of FIFA," said FIFA's ethics committee in a statement.

The Frenchman, whose job was to ensure the smooth running of FIFA and, in particular, its flagship World Cup tournament, had been right-hand man to now banned FIFA president Sepp Blatter for nearly eight years.

FIFA is mired in the worst crisis in its 111-year history, with corruption investigations under way in Switzerland and the United States. Several dozen people, including senior football officials, have been indicted.

The ethics committee has already banned Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini for eight years apiece, and more than a dozen other officials have been suspended over the last four years.

Valcke was initially investigated over potential misconduct linked to the sale of tickets for FIFA World Cups and other cases were uncovered by Cornel Borbely, FIFA's chief ethics investigator, during the course of the inquiry, the statement said.

It was found that Valcke had travelled at FIFA's expense for "purely sightseeing reasons" and had repeatedly chosen private flights over commercial ones "without any business rationale for doing so."

"Mr Valcke gained an advantage for himself and relatives," said the statement.

The investigation also found that Valcke attempted to grant the 2018 and 2022 World Cup television and marketing rights for the Caribbean region to a third party for a fee which was "far below their actual market value", said the statement.