The case against the former presidents of FIFA and UEFA in relation to bad business dealings has been dropped. The court announced this judgment on Friday in Bellinzona. The court awarded Blatter compensation of 20,000 francs (20,189.78 euros). Platini did without one. He regains access to the approximately 2 million francs (today around 2.02 million euros) that were frozen by the federal prosecutor. In their pleading, the federal prosecutor’s office had called for conditional prison sentences of 20 months each.
“What I expect here is nothing more than an acquittal,” said the 86-year-old Blatter on Friday before the verdict. The Swiss was President of FIFA until 2016, the French Platini (67) President of the European Football Union. According to her, the transfer of millions in 2011 was an additional payment for consulting activities that Platini had done for FIFA from 1998 to 2002.
Banned for several years
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. On the other hand, there was speculation in the media at the time that Blatter wanted to use this payment from Platini to secure support for re-election to a new term in 2011 against a challenger. In return, he is said to have promised Platini to set him up as his successor in 2015, according to speculation.
In any case, the Swiss Attorney General saw no legal basis for the million-euro payment. She brought charges against Blatter and Platini, demanding a year and eight months in prison for each of them. The FIFA Ethics Committee had suspended the two officials for several years. A ban means they cannot attend football activities.
Source: Nachrichten
