“In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR), a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has today been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding a potential violation of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations by Mr. Zlatan Ibrahimović for having an alleged financial interest in a betting company,” UEFA stated in an announcement.
“As a general policy, FIFA’s judicial bodies don’t speculate on the application of the FIFA Code of Ethics or any other regulation,” a FIFA spokesperson instructed CNN.
Article 12 of UEFA’s Disciplinary Regulations states: “The integrity of matches and competitions is violated, for example, by anyone who participates directly or indirectly in betting or similar activities relating to competition matches or who has a direct or indirect financial interest in such activities.”
Ibrahimovic’s agent referred CNN Sport to his membership AC Milan, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about UEFA’s investigation. Bethard didn’t instantly reply to CNN’s request for remark.