ZURICH, May 10: Eleven members of FIFA’s executive committee began legal proceedings against FIFA president Sepp Blatter with the Zurich First Prosecutor on Friday.

In a joint statement five FIFA vice-presidents — David Will, Lennart Johansson, Issa Hayatou, Dr Antonio Matarrese and Dr Mong-joon Chung — confirmed they had started the legal process against the president.

The Zurich prosecutor also confirmed he had received a formal complaint against Blatter in which the members of the world soccer body’s executive council accuse him of misusing the organisation’s funds.

Hansruedi Mueller, the chief prosecutor in the canton of Zurich, told Reuters he would decide on Monday how to continue with the procedure, which he said was going to last a long time.

“This afternoon I received the formal complaint from eleven members of the FIFA executive board, and it is concerning improper business conduct and misuse of funds,” Mueller told Reuters.