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The National
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The National
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini cleared in long-running football corruption case
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and ex-Uefa chief Michel Platini were on Tuesday acquitted by a Swiss court in a long-running corruption case that shattered their careers as two of the most powerful figures in world football. Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, listened in silence as the Extraordinary Court of Appeal clerk in Muttenz read out a decision identical to the one handed down in 2022, which had initially cleared them. Prosectors had requested suspended sentences of 20 months for the pair, but charges of fraud, for which they risked five years' imprisonment, as well as disloyal management, breach of trust and forgery of documents were all dismissed. After almost 10 years of legal proceedings, a final appeal is still possible before the Swiss Federal Court, but only on limited legal grounds. "The relentless pursuit from Fifa and some Swiss federal prosecutors is now over," Platini told reporters. "Today my honour is restored, and I'm very happy." Platini, a former France captain and manager, said he felt "from the start" that the purpose of the affair was to prevent him "from being president of Fifa". "I know that for my enemies, it was time that was important... They kept me out for 10 years," continued Platini, whose downfall cleared the way for the election of Gianni Infantino in early 2016 as Fifa president. Blatter and Platini returned to court earlier this month on charges stemming from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.06 million) Fifa made to Platini in 2011 for consultancy services. "After two acquittals, the federal prosecutor's office must also admit that this criminal procedure has definitively failed. Michel Platini must finally be left alone in criminal matters," said Dominic Nellen, Platini's lawyer. The case began in 2015 when Blatter quit as head of Fifa in a corruption crisis. Blatter and Platini were initially acquitted by the Swiss Federal Court in June 2022, but the Swiss Attorney General's office immediately appealed that verdict. The defence and prosecution agreed that Platini did advise Blatter between 1998 and 2002, during the Swiss administrator's first term at the head of FIFA, and that in 1999 the two men signed a contract agreeing an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, to be "paid in full by Fifa". Blatter and Platini said that at the start they agreed orally, and without witnesses, on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, but Fifa's financial state did not allow for immediate payment. Blatter called it a "gentlemen's agreement". Prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand said the argument was implausible. Even if Fifa had transferred one million Swiss francs to Platini in 1999, it would still have had "more than 21 million francs in cash", and its reserves had reached 328 million in 2002. To agree such a sum without a written record, without witnesses and without ever making provision for it in the accounts was, he said, "contrary to commercial practice" as well as to Fifa's norms. In January 2011, "more than eight years after the end of his activity as advisor", Platini "claimed a debt of two million Swiss francs", which Fifa paid. Prosecutors argued that this was an "unfounded" payment, obtained by "cleverly misleading" FIFA's internal controls through false statements made by the two executives. At the time, Blatter was running for re-election as Fifa president and Platini had become head of European football. Platini backed Blatter in his successful bid for a fourth term in charge of Fifa.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Blatter and Platini cleared in FIFA graft case
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini on Tuesday were acquitted on appeal by a Swiss court in a long-running corruption case that shattered their careers as two of the most powerful figures in world football. Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, listened in silence as the Extraordinary Court of Appeal clerk in Muttenz read out a decision identical to the one handed down in 2022, which had initially cleared them. Prosectors had requested suspended sentences of 20 months for the pair, but charges of fraud, for which they risked five years' imprisonment, as well as disloyal management, breach of trust and forgery of documents were all dismissed. After almost 10 years of legal proceedings, a final appeal is still possible before the Swiss Federal Court, but only on limited legal grounds. "The relentless pursuit from FIFA and some Swiss federal prosecutors is now over," Platini told reporters. "Today my honour is restored, and I'm very happy." Platini, a former France captain and manager, said he felt "from the start" that the purpose of the affair was to prevent him "from being president of FIFA". "I know that for my enemies, it was time that was important... They kept me out for 10 years," continued Platini, whose downfall cleared the way for the election in early 2016 of Gianni Infantino as FIFA boss. Blatter and Platini returned to court earlier this month on charges stemming from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) FIFA made to Platini in 2011 for consultancy services. "After two acquittals, the federal prosecutor's office must also admit that this criminal procedure has definitively failed. Michel Platini must finally be left alone in criminal matters," said Dominic Nellen, Platini's lawyer. - 'Gentlemen's agreement' - The case began in 2015 when Blatter quit as head of FIFA in a corruption crisis. Blatter and Platini were initially acquitted by the Swiss Federal Court in June 2022, but the Swiss Attorney General's office immediately appealed that verdict. The defence and prosecution agreed that Platini did advise Blatter between 1998 and 2002, during the Swiss administrator's first term at the head of FIFA, and that in 1999 the two men signed a contract agreeing an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, to be "paid in full by FIFA". Blatter and Platini said that at the start they agreed orally, and without witnesses, on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, but FIFA's financial state did not allow for immediate payment. Blatter called it a "gentlemen's agreement". Prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand said the argument was implausible. Even if FIFA had transferred one million Swiss francs to Platini in 1999, it would still have had "more than 21 million francs in cash", and its reserves had reached 328 million in 2002. To agree such a sum without a written record, without witnesses and without ever making provision for it in the accounts was, he said, "contrary to commercial practice" as well as to FIFA's norms. In January 2011, "more than eight years after the end of his activity as advisor", Platini "claimed a debt of two million Swiss francs", which FIFA paid. Prosecutors argued that this was an "unfounded" payment, obtained by "cleverly misleading" FIFA's internal controls through false statements made by the two executives. At the time, Blatter was running for re-election as FIFA president and Platini had become head of European football. Platini backed Blatter in his successful bid for a fourth term in charge of FIFA. cfe/mw/jc
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Swiss appeals court acquits Blatter and Platini in graft case
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini on Tuesday were acquitted again on appeal by a Swiss court in a long-running corruption case. As in the first instance, when the pair were acquitted in 2022, the extraordinary appeals court in Muttenz near Basel did not follow the recommendations of prosecutors who had requested suspended sentences of 20 months. After almost 10 years of proceedings, a final appeal is still possible before the Swiss Federal Court, but only on limited legal grounds. Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, again appeared in court on charges stemming from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) FIFA made to Platini in 2011 for consultancy services. The legal saga shattered the careers of Blatter and former France captain and manager Platini, once among the most powerful figures in world football. "After two acquittals, the federal prosecutor's office must also admit that this criminal procedure has definitively failed. Michel Platini must finally be left alone in criminal matters," said Dominic Nellen, Platini's lawyer. The case began in 2015 when Blatter quit as head of FIFA in a corruption crisis. They were initially acquitted by the Swiss Federal Court in June 2022 of charges that included "disloyal management", "breach of trust" and "forgery of securities". However, the Swiss Attorney General's office immediately appealed that verdict. The defence and prosecution agreed that Platini did advise Blatter between 1998 and 2002, during the Swiss administrator's first term at the head of FIFA, and that in 1999 the two men signed a contract agreeing an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, to be "paid in full by FIFA". Blatter and Platini said that at the start they agreed orally, and without witnesses, on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, but FIFA's financial state did not allow for immediate payment. In January 2011, "more than eight years after the end of his activity as advisor", Platini "claimed a debt of two million Swiss francs", which FIFA paid. At the time, Blatter was running for re-election as FIFA president and Platini had become head of European football. Prosecutors argued that this was an "unfounded" payment, obtained by "cleverly misleading" FIFA's internal controls through false statements made by the two executives -- the key criterion in the fraud. cfe/mw/jc
Times of Oman
04-03-2025
- Sport
- Times of Oman
FIFA, UEFA former bosses back in court in new fraud trial
Former FIFA president Joseph Blatter and French football legend Michel Platini on Monday returned to court in Switzerland as they face a retrial on fraud, forgery and misappropriation charges. It is the second time the pair stand in the trial connected with Blatter's payment to former UEFA chief Platini. The 88-year-old Blatter — commonly known as Sepp — said he was "very confident" of another acquittal. "When people talk about forgery and lies and fraud, that's not me — it's not been me in my entire life," Blatter told the court. Why does the FIFA fraud case resurface? In 2022, the pair was cleared of fraud over a 2 million Swiss franc (€2.1 million or $2.2 million) payment from Blatter to Platini. They claimed the delayed payment in 2011 was for consultancy work agreed upon in the 1990s. The Swiss Federal Court at the time gave them the benefit of the doubt. But the country's federal prosecutors appealed against the original verdicts. "I still don't understand why the public prosecutor's office is picking on me," Platini, the three-time Ballon d'Or winner who was UEFA president from 2007 to 2015, said at the start of his court hearing on Monday. When the case was opened in 2015, both Blatter's and Platini's careers in sports administration were over. It crushed Platini's hopes of eventually succeeding Blatter, who in 2015 stepped down after leading FIFA for nearly two decades following a separate corruption scandal.
