Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA, and Michel Platini, the former head of UEFA, have both been cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court.
A two million franc (£1.7 million) payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011 was the subject of the first criminal proceedings, which started back in 2015.
At the time of the payment, Sepp Blatter, 86, was in command of FIFA, while Platini, 67, was in charge of UEFA.
Blatter claimed that a “gentlemen’s arrangement” between the two when he invited Platini to serve as his technical consultant in 1998 led to the payment.
Blatter asserted that Platini had agreed to defer payment of his wages because of FIFA’s financial difficulties at the time, and that the payment was part of Platini’s income from his time spent working there as a consultant between 1998 and 2002.
Blatter was charged with illegally arranging for FIFA to pay Platini, according to the prosecution, who called his account of the events a “fiction.”
In Bellinzona, Switzerland, the Federal Criminal Court has recently exonerated Blatter of fraud. Additionally, Platini was cleared of fraud charges.
The accusations against the two men were all refuted by them.
Following a 2015 investigation by the US Department of Justice into bribery, fraud, and money laundering within FIFA, the payment first came to light.
The case put an end to Blatter’s 17-year presidency of FIFA as well as Platini’s chances of succeeding him.
After being found guilty by FIFA of violating the ethics code, the couple received eight-year bans from all football-related activity, which were eventually reduced to six years.
After receiving a suspension, Platini was forced to resign as president of UEFA, and Alexander Ceferin eventually took over.
Platini asserted that the case was an intentional attempt to hinder his bid to succeed Blatter as FIFA president; Gianni Infantino was chosen for the position in 2016.
What did Sepp Blatter and Platini do?
Formerly the two most influential soccer figures in the world, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were facing corruption allegations in Switzerland.
Blatter, an 86-year-old Swiss sports administrator, began working for FIFA in 1975 as its technical director. Before being elected president in 1998, he was chosen general secretary six years later.
Despite having a contentious administration, Blatter was repeatedly re-elected and held the position for 17 years.
Platini, 66, joined UEFA in 1998 following an incredibly successful playing career in which he won three Ballons d’Or and a brief stint as France’s head coach.
He was elected UEFA president in 2007 after moving up the organization’s ranks, and he served in that capacity until 2015.
FIFA was the subject of an FBI investigation into allegations of financial malfeasance, bribery, corruption, and vote-rigging in 2015.
Seven FIFA executives were detained by the US Department of Justice in May of that year during a raid on a posh hotel in Zurich. At different times and locations, four additional people were detained.
Following Blatter’s resignation, Platini was expected to succeed him.
The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) then declared in September that it was looking into Blatter in connection with payments made to Platini.
FIFA’s Ethics Committee issued an eight-year soccer suspension for both Blatter and Platini in December 2015. Platini’s suspension was ultimately lowered to four years and Blatter’s to six, but in 2021 Blatter received a second six-year suspension as a result of an investigation into unauthorized incentive payments.
