Former FIFA Boss Sepp Blatter and French Soccer Icon Michel Platini Cleared of Corruption Charges in Swiss Court

variety.com:

Jamie Lang A Swiss appeals court has acquitted former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and French football icon Michel Platini of corruption charges.

The verdict, delivered on Tuesday at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel, upheld the duo’s 2022 acquittal, marking the end of a long-running legal battle over a controversial payment made in 2011.

The case centered around a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.26 million) that Blatter authorized for Platini in 2011. Swiss federal prosecutors alleged that the payment, made while Platini was president of UEFA, was fraudulent and without legal basis.

However, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution’s claims. The ruling reaffirmed that Blatter and Platini had a gentlemen’s agreement regarding the payment, which covered consultancy work Platini performed for FIFA between 1998 and 2002. “It cannot be assumed that the defendants acted with the intention of enriching themselves in the sense of the charged offenses,” the court stated.