FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke has been removed from his duties due to suspicions of opaque activities.
The Frenchman is suspected of creating a scheme in which tickets to the World Cup matches were sold at a higher price than their nominal value, and the secretary himself profited personally from it. J. Valcke denies the accusations.
FIFA has been under the magnifying glass of law enforcement since May, when Swiss police, during a raid, detained a whole series of high-ranking officials of the organization.
J. Valcke is often considered to be the right hand of Sepp Blatter and has previously stated that he was considering participating in the elections for the new FIFA president. He has held his current position in the organization since 2007.
The secretary has also faced allegations of involvement in kickbacks.
According to the "New York Times" and other US publications, through J. Valcke, 10 million dollars in kickbacks were transferred, and among the recipients of the money was Jack Warner, who sold his vote in selecting the hosts of the 2010 World Cup.
