Blatter declared before the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona after being excused for health reasons on Wednesday. The 86-year-old leader said that he had asked Platinum to be his adviser after he was elected president of the FIFA for the first time in 1998.
Platinum asked to be paid one million francs a yearbut Blatter told the French that the FIFA he couldn’t afford that salary. Instead, they agreed that the former soccer player would charge 300,000 francs a yearand that the pending money would be paid later.
“I knew when we started with Michel Platini that it was not the total, and that we would see it later”Blatter said referring to the agreed salary of 300,000 francs for the position of technical advisor.
Sealed with a handshake, Blatter said the operation was a call “gentleman’s agreement”. “It was an operation between two athletes”he pointed. “I didn’t find anything wrong with it”he added.
Platinum signed a written contract with the FIFA in 1999, but it only specified a salary of 300,000 francs, without mentioning bonuses.
The former captain of the French national team said he trusted Blatter and that he believed he would end up receiving full payment. “I trusted the president and I knew that one day he would pay me”said Platinum Before the court.
The fragile financial situation of the FIFA in the early 2000s, following the bankruptcy of its broadcasting partner, made the organization unable to pay immediately when Platinum he stopped working as a technical advisor in 2002. Blatter described the organization as “ruined”.
Platinum he didn’t claim the outstanding debt until 2010, telling the court he didn’t need the money. The 66-year-old Frenchman decided to claim the money after learning that two former employees of the FIFA They had received large payments.
Platinum He said he contacted the FIFA and informed him that the organization owed him money and that he should send an invoice. He sent a claim 2 million francs in January 2011 and was paid 10 days later, after the invoice was approved by Blatterhe highlighted.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Swiss has accused Blatter Already Platinum of “fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the additional alternative of criminal maladministration, as well as falsification of a document”.
Platinumwho later became president of the UEFAHe was also charged as an accessory.
The verdict is scheduled for July 8. If they are convicted, Platinum Y Blatter they face five years in prison.
Source: Ambito
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