FIFA chief Blatter accused of buying votes

Sepp Blatter was today accused of trying to buy votes in his campaign to be re-elected as FIFA president.

Blatter already faces accusations he rigged the election in 1998 when he pipped UEFA president Lennart Johansson to the post.

11 FIFA executive committee members today filed a formal complaint against Blatter in a Swiss court.

Their combined statement released through UEFA read: ‘‘We take no pleasure in proceeding in this way but as members of the controlling body of FIFA we have a legal responsibility to the FIFA member associations and a possible personal liability which requires us to act.

‘‘We are also led to believe some of the money spent by the FIFA president was used to secure the votes of some national associations and it is therefore likely the president illegally tried to influence the result of the present presidential campaign.

‘‘We cannot accept this and will advise the member associations accordingly.’’