Acquittals for former football officials Blatter and Platini

In its judgment on Friday, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona in the Swiss canton of Ticino did not consider it proven that Blatter illegally forced Platini to pay two million Swiss francs (today around 2,02 million euros) from the coffers of the world football association FIFA had helped.

“I am not innocent in my life, but I am innocent in this case,” Blatter said upon his arrival in court. The 86-year-old Swiss was President of FIFA until 2016, and the Frenchman Platini (67) was President of the European Football Union UEFA. According to their account, the million-dollar transfer in 2011 was an additional payment for consulting work that Platini had done for FIFA from 1998 to 2002. At the turn of the millennium, FIFA did not have enough money to pay Platini in full. It was a “gentleman's agreement,” as Blatter said.

Michel Platini on the way to court. © ANSA / ALESSANDRO CRINARI

On the other hand, there was speculation in the media at the time that Blatter wanted to use this payment to secure support from Platini in the re-election to a new term of office in 2011 against a challenger. In return, according to speculation, he promised Platini that he would be groomed as his successor in 2015. Federal prosecutors demanded a prison sentence In any case, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office saw no legal basis for the million-dollar payment. She brought charges against Blatter and Platini and demanded a prison sentence of one year and eight months for each. The FIFA Ethics Committee banned the two officials for several years. A suspension means they cannot take part in football activities.

The lawyers had pleaded for acquittal. FIFA appeared as a co-plaintiff in the proceedings and demanded repayment of the amount and the social benefits paid on it.

Platini and his lawyer tried to distract from the circumstances surrounding the actual payment. They were more interested in proving an alleged plot. There is no motive for the alleged crime of fraud, but there is for the criminal proceedings. No one in FIFA had complained about the payment for years, they argued - until 2015, the very year that Platini wanted to apply to succeed Blatter. Platini and his lawyer suggested that the investigation should destroy Platini's chances of the top job.

Instead of Platini, then UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino succeeded Blatter. He is still in office today. Why the million-dollar payment came into the investigators' sights in 2015 was not the subject of the trial.

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Acquittals for former football officials Blatter and Platini

The trial surrounding a dubious million-dollar payment against the two formerly powerful football officials Joseph Blatter and Michel Platini has ended with acquittals.

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