Football Association President Dr. Molefi Olphant had written to Valcke on 4 March 2008 requesting that US$10 million be diverted from the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee's future budget towards a "Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund" operated by then CONCACAF President Jack Warner. The U.S. indictment stated "Co-Conspirator #1 understood the offer to be in exchange for the agreement of WARNER, Co-Conspirator #1, and Co-Conspirator #17 to all vote for South Africa, rather than Morocco, to host the 2010 World Cup." Suspension, investigation and termination On 17 September 2015, FIFA stated that Valcke had been put on leave and released from his duties until further notice. The decision was made by the FIFA Emergency Committee after a series of allegations implicated Valcke of selling World Cup tickets for above face value. On 8 October 2015, the investigatory arm of the FIFA Ethics Committee suspended him from all football for 90 days. On the expiry of that ban, it was extended for another 45 days and his case was passed to the Ethics Committee's adjudicatory arm for formal proceedings against him for alleged "misuse of expenses and other infringements of FIFA's rules and regulations", with the recommendation from the investigation arm that he be banned from all football for nine years, and fined 100,000 Swiss francs. On 13 January 2016, he was dismissed as Secretary General and his employment at FIFA was terminated with immediate effect. In July 2018, he lost his appeal to CAS against his 10-year ban from football. 2020 prosecution On 14 September 2020, the Swiss Federal Court started to prosecute both Valcke and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, based on charges related to a meeting on 24 October 2013, at the French headquarters of beIN, in which Al-Khelaifi allegedly promised to purchase a villa in Sardinia for €5m, to be utilized by Valcke, in exchange to granting the 2026 and 2030 World Cups screening rights to beIN Media. Suspension extended On 24 March 2021, his first suspension which was due to expire in October 2025, was extended by six years until 2031. Personal life Besides his first language, French, Valcke speaks English, German and Spanish. He is married to Ornella, because of whom he obtained South African citizenship, and has two sons and one daughter. References 1960 births Living people French football chairmen and investors FIFA officials People named in the Panama Papers Journalists from Paris