Swiss prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

In a statement, the Swiss attorney general's office said that the controversial football chief was being investigated "on suspicion of criminal mismanagement as well as - alternatively - on suspicion of misappropriation" over a TV rights deal signed with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005.

Blatter is also suspected of "a disloyal payment" of CHF2m (£1.3m) to UEFA president Michel Platini, the favourite to succeed him in the upcoming election.

Blatter – who has run Fifa since 1998 and has denied any wrongdoing – has been questioned by police and had his office searched. Blatter won a fifth consecutive presidential election earlier this year but stepped down from the role following allegations of corruption within Fifa.

The Fifa president had been scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday afternoon, but Fifa called the event off minutes before it was due to start.