FIFA investigators used special software for financial watchdogs to catch the 2 million transfer that led to the ban on Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, a source close to football’s world governing body said.
Unleashing the Swiss-developed programme which can analyse thousands of accounts in double quick time highlights the lengths now being taken to track doubtful money transfers in world football.
“It particularly looks for accounts which have multiple holders,” said the source close to FIFA.
A similar version is also used by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BAFin).
“It can analyse thousands of accounts very quickly and flag up any suspect transactions,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Blatter-Platini case.
FIFA president Blatter and vice president Platini were both banned for eight years today by FIFA’s ethics court because of irregularities in the two million Swiss franc ( 2 million/1.8 million) payment made in 2011.
The two officials say the money was transferred to pay for consultancy work carried out between 1999 and 2002.
Blatter and Platini said an oral contract for a yearly fee of one million Swiss francs was agreed but the full salary was never paid.
The ethics tribunal said in its judgement that there was “no legal basis” for the payment and that the two officials were guilty of “abusive execution” of the positions within FIFA.
The source said the FIFA action was “quite exceptional” because of the standing of the targets.
Former US prosecutor Michael Garcia had carried out an investigation of the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
But the 2 million payment was not included in the Garcia report’s evidence and only found later by the software, the source said.
The payment is being investigated by Swiss prosecutors and this could further delay the publication of the Garcia report. FIFA had said it could not release the report in whole because of legal reasons.
“It has not been finalised whether the Garcia report will now be published,” the source said.
