regarding these four employees: "Fifa's negotiations breached its business principles . . . Fifa cannot possibly accept such conduct among its own employees." According to Blatter, Valcke was released and had not been fired. Valcke was replaced by Eelco M. van der Noll as interim Director, Marketing at FIFA. After an appeal and further legal proceedings, FIFA reached a settlement with Visa and MasterCard on 21 June for US$90 million. FIFA General Secretary Despite the scandal, Valcke was installed as FIFA's general secretary at the meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee on 27 June 2007, as proposed by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and was thereby elected as the successor of Urs Linsi who stepped down on 11 June 2007. Markus Kattner, FIFA's chief of finance who had acted as interim general secretary between 11 and 27 June 2007, was installed as his deputy. Valcke is the first general secretary of FIFA since 1956 who wasn't born in Switzerland. The appointment of Valcke as FIFA's general secretary surprised some experts. FIFA president Blatter said: "Strong people bring you back. When he began his work as director of marketing and TV in FIFA four and a half years ago, we were in a financial crisis. Currently we have an equity of CHF 752 million." Valcke responded to his promotion of 27 June 2007 in Zurich, with the following statement: "It's like a dream for me." Corruption allegations 2011 accusations On 30 May 2011, FIFA Executive Committee member Jack Warner, who had been suspended that day for possible ethics violations pending an investigation, leaked an email from Valcke which suggested that Qatar had "bought" the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Valcke subsequently issued a statement denying any suggestions that pay off took place, and claimed that "the country had used its financial muscle to lobby for support" instead. Qatar officials similarly denied all media-perpetuated mischief allegations. 2015 accusations On 27 May 2015, the United States Department of Justice unsealed an indictment following the arrest of several past and present FIFA officials. It stated that "a high-ranking FIFA official" caused payments totalling US$10 million to be paid to bank accounts in the name of CONCACAF and Caribbean Football Union controlled by Warner. FIFA denied that Valcke was involved, and Valcke stated that he had not authorised the payment and had no power to do so. However, it later transpired that South African