French football legend Michel Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter were back in a Swiss court on Monday to face accusations of fraud.
The pair were acquitted in 2022 by a lower court in a trial over the 2011 payment to Platini, and authorised by Blatter, of over $2 million.
Platini was president of football’s European governing body, UEFA, at the time.
When federal prosecutors published their initial indictment in November 2021, they said the payment “damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini”.
The lower court judge accepted their explanation that it was a belated payment for advisory work done by Platini for FIFA a few years beforehand.
But the Swiss federal prosecutor appealed against the decision, leading to this new hearing,
which is expected to last until Thursday, with a verdict due on 25 March.
In court on Monday, Blatter reaffirmed his innocence, while lawyers for Platini said the lower tribunal had been right to find that the disputed payment was lawful.
The case wrecked Platini’s hopes of succeeding Blatter as head of FIFA.
Blatter resigned from the football governing body in 2015 following a separate corruption scandal.
The same year, FIFA suspended both men from football for ethics breaches, originally for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced.
The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a 20-month sentence, suspended for two years, against them.
Source: Africanews
