Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter had a corruption charge related to the sale of World Cup broadcasting rights to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) dropped on Saturday, reports Reuters' John Revill.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Switzerland has informed all of the parties of its intention to close the case, according to Revill.
"We confirm the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland considers the criminal investigation into the partial facts and allegations concerning the contractual relationship with the CFU to be complete and ready for conclusion," the Swiss OAG said in a statement.
The Swiss prosecutors said they "intend to discontinue the proceedings." The OAG did not provide a reason for their decision.
Blatter, 84, led FIFA until 2015 and is currently serving a six-year ban from any football-related activities over ethics violations. He was accused of selling the television rights to the CFU for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for $600,000, which was an amount seen as far below the market value at the time.
The recently dropped case was one of two criminal cases Blatter is facing. In the second criminal case, Blatter is accused of having arranged a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.06 million) to the then Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Michel Platini in February 2011. The Swiss OAG said their investigation into this case is not affected by their decision to close the first case.
According to Reuters, a spokesman for Blatter said he had not heard anything officially but had no reason to doubt the media reports.
