KPMG reviews Swiss auditing unit over FIFA: Report

Zurich: Auditing firm KPMG has launched an internal review of its Swiss business over audits of world soccer body FIFA`s financial record keeping, according to a Swiss newspaper.

KPMG Switzerland spokesman Andreas Hammer told SonntagsZeitung that services the Swiss unit performed for FIFA were being reviewed, as agreed with its parent company, KPMG International.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Attorney General`s Office are investigating alleged corruption within FIFA after the indictment of 14 senior soccer officials and sports marketing executives in May.

Last week, FIFA put Jerome Valcke, its second-ranking official, on leave after an ex-footballer raised allegations he was involved in a plan to resell 2014 World Cup tickets for a lucrative profit.

Since 1999, KPMG Switzerland has been responsible for auditing FIFA`s financial reports, SonntagsZeitung reported. Should it discover irregularities during such a review, an auditor is bound by law to report them.

Hammer declined to comment on the allegations against FIFA officials by the U.S. Department of Justice, the newspaper said, but contended those charges were primarily focused on activities that had "no direct effect on the statutory financial reports of FIFA."

Hammer didn`t return a phone call and email from Reuters on Sunday.