Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and French football legend Michel Platini have been cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court, marking the end of a long legal battle. The Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court overturned a previous acquittal, but ultimately ruled in favor of the two men, dismissing fraud allegations related to a 2 million Swiss franc payment.
The case centered on a payment authorized by Blatter to Platini in 2011, which prosecutors argued was fraudulent. Both men consistently denied the charges, maintaining that the payment was for consultancy work carried out by Platini between 1998 and 2002, with a portion deferred due to FIFA’s financial constraints at the time.
The court found that the prosecution’s claims were based on doubts, and that the defendants’ accounts of an oral agreement for the payment could not be disproven. They also acknowledged Platini’s experience as a top footballer and coach as justification for the payment’s size.
“It can not be assumed that the defendants acted with the intention of enriching themselves in the sense of the charged offences,” the court stated.
The scandal, which emerged in 2015, effectively ended Platini’s aspirations of succeeding Blatter as FIFA president and led to both men being suspended from football activities.
Following the verdict, Platini expressed relief, stating that his honor had been restored after a decade of “persecution” by FIFA and Swiss prosecutors. He also suggested that the case was politically motivated to prevent his FIFA presidency. Blatter, appearing frail, echoed Platini’s relief, describing the legal proceedings as a “sword of Damocles” hanging over him for ten years.
Prosecutors had sought a 20-month suspended jail sentence for both men. The Swiss attorney general’s office has stated it will review the written judgement before deciding whether to pursue a further appeal to the Swiss Federal Court. The 2 million Swiss francs, previously confiscated by authorities, will now be returned to Platini.
