It follows the Investigatory Chamber recommending the Frenchman be given a nine-year ban yesterday for his role in allegedly selling World Cup tickets for above their face value.

They also requested his 90-day suspension from footballing activity, which was due to expire yesterday, be extended by a further 45 days.

As well as proposing the 55-year-old be handed a substantial ban, the Ethics Committee also recommended he be fined CHF100,000 (£67,000/$99,000/€92,000).

He has been accused of "offering and accepting gifts and other benefits", as well as breaches of confidentiality, duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting and loyalty.

The recommendation means the Frenchman’s case has now been passed on to Adjudicatory Chamber judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.

“The adjudicatory chamber has studied the report carefully and decided to institute formal adjudicatory proceedings against Mr Valcke,” a FIFA statement read.

“For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time.

“In the course of the proceedings, the party will be invited to submit his position including any evidence with regard to the final report of the investigatory chamber (art. 70 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics) and may request a hearing (art. 74 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics).”

The decision from the Investigatory Chamber prompted a strongly-worded statement from Valcke’s lawyer, who claimed they had “chosen to ignore Jérôme Valcke's exemplary conduct and extraordinary contributions during his long tenure as secretary general”.

It also attacked the announcement as “nothing more than a self-serving public relations effort to wrongly attack Mr. Valcke in a desperate attempt to try to prove FIFA can police itself”, while reiterating his innocence.

Valcke, who has held his role within FIFA since 2007, was also at the centre of allegations concerning a $10 million (£7 million/€9 million) bribe, reportedly given to disgraced FIFA vice-president Jack Warner in return for his vote for South Africa’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup.

Valcke has always denied the claims, despite reports in the American media that he was the “high-ranking FIFA official” to have signed off on the payment.

Before he was banned for 90 days, Valcke was tasked with the day-to-day running of world football's world governing body, which remains engulfed in scandal amid a series of corruption allegations, indictments and arrests, and was considered suspended President Sepp Blatter's right-hand man.

Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini were given eight-year bans from footballing activity after the Ethics Committee conducted an investigation into a "disloyal" payment of CHF2 million (£1.3 million/$2 million/€1.8 million) made to the Frenchman by the Swiss.

His tumultuous tenure at the helm of the governing body will officially come to an end at the Extraordinary Congress, due to take place in Zurich on February 26.