FIFA Scandal: Platini Implicated In Blatter's Probe

Michel Platini may have emerged as the favourite to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of scandal-riddled Fifa, but it is his close links to the veteran Swiss that threaten to end his dreams of running world football's governing body.

The current Uefa president and once one of the greatest players in the world when he starred for Saint-Etienne, Juventus and France in the 1980s, Platini has tried to position himself as the man to clean up an organisation brought to its knees by endless corruption scandals in recent months.

But on Friday he was implicated as Swiss authorities opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, with the outgoing head of Fifa accused of making a "disloyal payment" to Platini of two million Swiss francs ($2.04 million).

FIFA: Swiss Prosecutors Open Criminal Proceedings Against Sepp Blatter

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of world soccer body Fifa, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, the Swiss attorney general's office said on Friday.

It said Blatter was interrogated after a meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Zurich, and authorities carried out a search at Fifa headquarters on Friday.

"The office of the Fifa President has been searched and data seized," the office of the attorney general (OAG) said.

Probe: FIFA Set To Handover Jerome Valcke Emails

Swiss prosecutors said Thursday that Fifa have agreed to hand over the emails of suspended secretary general Jerome Valcke.

Access to the emails had been demanded by Switzerland's Attorney General Michael Lauber as part of his probe into corruption allegations surrounding the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Valcke was Fifa president Sepp Blatter's right-hand man until his suspension last week over accusations that he agreed to let World Cup tickets be sold at vastly inflated prices.

Euro 2016 Qualfying Review: Rooney Breaks Bobby's Record, Mata Scores For Spain & More

Wayne Rooney became England's all-time leading goalscorer as Austria secured their qualification for the Euro 2016 finals. Austria sealed their place at Euro 2016 with an impressive 4-1 win away to Sweden on Tuesday.

David Alaba coolly chipped home from the penalty spot after Kim Kallstrom had felled Zlatko Junuzovic inside the area, and Martin Harnik doubled the advantage shortly before the interval with a far-post header.

Marc Janko made it three as he rolled the ball confidently past Andreas Isaksson after being played in by Alaba, before Harnik added a fourth in the closing stages just before Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagged a consolation.

Swiss Authorities Extradite Fifa Official To USA

Swiss justice officials said on Thursday they had extradited to the United States an official detained in a US corruption investigation into world soccer's governing body Fifa.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice did not name the official in a brief statement following Wednesday's extradition. A source told Reuters last week Jeffrey Webb, a former Fifa vice president and president of the Concacaf regional soccer federation, had agreed to be extradited to the United States to face corruption charges.

ARGENTINA vs SWITZERLAND PREVIEW: ALL You Need To Know

This will be the seventh international meeting between Argentina and Switzerland. Argentina are unbeaten in their previous six (W4 D2).

The only previous World Cup meeting between these two sides came back in 1966, when Argentina defeated Switzerland 2-0.

After failing to score in seven successive World Cup appearances, Lionel Messi has netted four goals in his three appearances at the 2014 finals.

HONDURAS 0 SWITZERLAND 3: Watch The Hat-trick Here

              

SWITZERLAND 2 FRANCE 5: Hot Les Blues Stun Swiss

France absolutely overwhelmed Switzerland in a 5-2 drubbing in a match between the Group E leaders at the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Friday.

Les Bleus stunned the Swiss with two goals in two minutes to open up the match, which featured five different French scorers. Olivier Giroud started the onslaught in the 17th minute, and France pounced on a very poor Swiss restart to score again a minute later, with Blaise Matuidi finishing the move.

Mathieu Valbuena added to Swiss misery in the 40th on a quick counter. Karim Benzema was stopped on a penalty by Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio, but ended up scoring in the second half, along with Moussa Sissoko.