Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court acquitted former European and world football leaders over a suspected fraudulent payment.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once leaders of world and European football, have been acquitted for a payment is suspected of fraud that rocked the sport and created the torpedo of their time at the pinnacle.
The Swiss Federal Criminal Court in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona on Friday rejected prosecutor’s request for a suspended prison sentence of one year and eight months, following a massive investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.
Former FIFA presidents Blatter, 86, and Platini, 67, were tried for more than two million Swiss francs ($2.05 million) in 2011 for Platini, who was then in charge of football’s governing body. UEFA Europe.
The former greats of French football “submitted to FIFA in 2011 an allegedly fictitious bill for an (allegedly) debt owed to his activity as a advisor to FIFA between 1998 and 2002,” according to the court.
Blatter asserted in court that the pair had reached an oral “gentleman’s agreement”, with some of Platini’s remuneration to be paid at a later date when FIFA’s fragile finances would permit.
Both were charged with fraud and forgery of documents. Blatter was charged with criminal misappropriation and mismanagement, while Platini was accused of participating in those crimes.
Blatter and Platini maintained their innocence throughout the trial, which ran from June 8 to 22.
The indictment was filed by the Office of the Swiss Attorney General.
Both FIFA and UEFA have their headquarters in Switzerland, in Zurich and Nyon respectively.
Banned from participating in the sport
Platini and Blatter were banned from the sport at a time when the former player seemed ideally placed to succeed Blatter at the helm of world football’s governing body.
The two allies became rivals as Platini grew impatient to take over, while Blatter’s tenure was quickly ended by a 2015 FIFA corruption scandal run by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. check.
Joseph “Sepp” Blatter joined FIFA in 1975, became FIFA’s general secretary in 1981 and president of world football’s governing body in 1998.
He was forced to resign in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for 8 years, then reduced to 6, for an ethics violation for authorizing payments to Platini, allegedly for his benefit and not of FIFA.
Platini is considered one of the greatest players in world football. He has won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times – in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
Platini was UEFA president from January 2007 to December 2015. He appealed against his first eight-year suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, reduced to four years.
