Court acquits former FIFA and UEFA presidents Blatter and Platini in fraud case

Former International Football Association (FIFA) president Joseph Blatter and former head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini have been acquitted by a Swiss court on charges of fraud, maladministration, breach of trust and forgery of securities.

About it informs DW edition.

Blatter and Platini were accused of fraud by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office. The court considered the episode with a payment of 2 million Swiss francs arranged by Blatter for Platini in 2011.

Prosecutors believed that the payment was made without legal grounds and caused damage to FIFA’s assets. At the same time, Blatter and Platini argued that the payment was agreed verbally as payment for Platini’s work as a consultant from 1998 to 2002.

As punishment, the prosecutor’s office requested 18 months of suspended imprisonment for the participants in the transaction.

Joseph Blatter, 86, led FIFA from 1998 to 2015 and resigned amid a corruption scandal at the organization. 67-year-old Michel Platini, then head of UEFA, was going to take Blatter’s place. Because of the investigation, he had to abandon these plans and withdraw from the election of the head of FIFA.

Amid internal investigations, Platini stepped down as UEFA president. Along with Blatter, he was suspended from football for eight years. Subsequently, the terms of bans for former sports functionaries were reduced.

Recall, the European Court rejected the complaint of former FIFA vice-president Michel Platini, who complained about the decision of the sports organization to remove him from office and fine.