FIFA hands over Jerome Valcke’s emails to Swiss prosecutors

The world governing body had initially told the Swiss attorney general it would only give access to the email accounts if "several conditions be fulfilled".

However, it has now backed down and handed over all of Valcke's emails since May and promised access to older messages.

A statement from the Swiss attorney general's office read: "Today 24 September 2015 late afternoon, FIFA informed the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) to unseal all email accounts belonging to Mr Jerome Valcke, suspended secretary-general. Therewith, the OAG will have access to Mr Valcke's email accounts as requested.

"Furthermore, the OAG is pleased to note that FIFA has handed over on its own initiative Mr Jerome Valcke's emails since May 2015."

Valcke was suspended following a decision by FIFA's emergency committee last week after emails surfaced suggesting he was implicated in a World Cup tickets scheme. He has denied any wrongdoing.

A statement from FIFA read: "FIFA has in all instances forthwith responded to any and all requests received from the Office of the Swiss Attorney General and fully supports the investigation. FIFA has also voluntarily filed additional information and documents with the Office of the Swiss Attorney General in order to facilitate the investigation."

Sources close to Valcke say he believes his decision not to run for the FIFA presidency led to his suspension from his job – and in order to boost Sepp Blatter's faltering image.

The sources say the Frenchman believes Blatter decided to dispense with him after he decided not to run against Michel Platini for the FIFA presidency in February – and that the bigger the scalp, the better it looked for Blatter himself. Valcke also told Blatter last week that he wanted to end his contract early and had been trying to negotiate a multi-million pound pay-off.