The FIFA has filed a criminal complaint against former president Joseph Blatter over the finances of his football museum in Zurich.
The world football governing body said on Tuesday that it suspects "criminal mismanagement by the former FIFA management and the companies appointed by it" to work on the museum - considered a favorite project of Blatter - in a renovated and rented building in the city center.
The FIFA World Football Museum opened in 2016 after $140 million was spent renovating the 1970s office building to include 34 apartments for rent.
The project was supposed to open its doors in May 2015, when Blatter won a fifth presidential election, but was postponed until after he left office amid pressure from the US and Swiss investigations into international football officials.
Blatter committed FIFA to a lease agreement with the building owner, Swiss insurer Swiss Life, which requires payment of $360 million by 2045 above market rates.
The FIFA said its complaint, filed after an extensive audit of the project, was handed in person to the prosecutors of the canton of Zurich.
"This audit revealed a wide range of suspicious circumstances and management failures, some of which may have criminal nature and therefore need to be properly investigated by the relevant authorities," said FIFA Deputy Secretary General Alasdair Bell in a statement.
The Zurich prosecutor's office confirmed receipt of the complaint but did not provide details.
Blatter's lawyer, Lorenz Erni, said in a statement: "The accusations are unfounded and we vehemently deny them."
Blatter could be investigated locally as he is suspected in two criminal cases initiated by federal prosecutors regarding the spending of FIFA money during his presidency.
These investigations include the payment of $2 million by FIFA to former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011 and a payment of $1 million to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association - effectively to FIFA vice president Jack Warner - weeks before the general elections in the Caribbean nation in 2010.
The museum in Zurich has incurred losses every year, including a $50 million loss in 2016 that included one-time costs, said the FIFA in its financial report. (D)