Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini have been cleared of corruption allegations by a Swiss court on Tuesday.
The two football administrators were accused of fraud, forgery, mismanagement, and misappropriation of more than $2m (£1.5m) of FIFA money in 2011. However, they were acquitted by the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel.
Blatter had approved FIFA’s payment of 2 million Swiss francs (now $2.21m) to French football legend Platini in February 2011 as compensation for his work as a presidential adviser between 1998 and 2002. The Swiss federal investigation into the payment emerged in September 2015, just as Platini was a frontrunner to succeed Blatter as FIFA president.
The Swiss attorney general’s office had challenged an initial acquittal from July 2022 and sought suspended sentences of 20 months for both men. But on Tuesday, the court once again cleared them of fraud and other charges, including disloyal management, breach of trust, and document forgery.
Platini: “My honour is restored”
After nearly a decade of legal battles, Platini welcomed the ruling and expressed his frustration over what he viewed as an effort to block him from leading FIFA.
“The persecution by FIFA and some Swiss federal prosecutors for 10 years is now over,” Platini told reporters. “Today my honour is restored, and I’m very happy.”
Platini, a former France captain and manager, insisted that the case was politically motivated:
“I knew from the start that the goal was to prevent me from becoming FIFA president,” he said. “For my enemies, time was what mattered most… They kept me out for 10 years.”
Platini’s downfall ultimately paved the way for Gianni Infantino’s election as FIFA president in 2016.
Blatter and Platini’s ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’
The legal case stemmed from a late payment made in 2011 for consultancy services Platini had provided to FIFA from 1998 to 2002. While both men confirmed that a written contract had been signed in 1999, agreeing to a salary of 300,000 Swiss francs per year, they argued that they had an informal agreement for a higher amount.
Blatter described it as a “gentlemen’s agreement,” explaining that FIFA’s financial situation at the time had prevented them from paying Platini his full wages.
However, Swiss prosecutors dismissed this explanation, stating that the payment was “unfounded” and that FIFA had been “misled” through false statements by Blatter and Platini.
Legal battle not over yet
Despite their latest acquittal, the Swiss Supreme Court remains an option for further appeal, though only on limited legal grounds. The Swiss prosecutor’s office has yet to confirm whether it will pursue another appeal, stating, “We will decide how to further proceed.”
Blatter and Platini were previously banned from football by FIFA’s ethics committee, a punishment that effectively ended their careers in football governance.
