Zurich, Dec 23 (IANS): FIFA on Tuesday announced that it has lodged a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter over a loss-making museum in Zurich, Switzerland. According to FIFA, the museum enerated a bill of 500 million Swiss francs (462 million euros) that instead "could and should have been channelled into the development of global football".

"FIFA has lodged a criminal complaint with Zurich's cantonal prosecutor as evidence of suspected criminal mismanagement by FIFA's former management and companies appointed by them in relation to the 'Haus zur Enge' has surfaced following an investigation by external experts," football's global governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The complaint identifies the direct involvement of former FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter together with other persons in relation to activities relating to the agreements that were signed in relation to the facility, which is located in downtown Zurich," it said.

FIFA's deputy secretary general for administration Alasdair Bell said that an audit that the body undertook on the museum revealed "a wide range of suspicious circumstances and management failures, some of which may be criminal in nature and which therefore need to be properly investigated by the relevant authorities".

Blatter, 84, who was president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015, was suspended from football for six years in 2016 over a two million Swiss franc payment to then-UEFA president Michel Platini.