Former UEFA president Michel Platini and former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter were acquitted on Friday by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland. The prosecution had requested one year and eight months in prison against the former French international and the ex-number one of the body in charge of world football, tried for fraud.
Implicated in other criminal cases but tried for the first time, the 67-year-old Frenchman and the 86-year-old Swiss had each pleaded acquittal, they who claim their innocence and see in this file a manipulation intended to dismiss them power. They faced up to five years in prison.
He is delighted to have “won a first match”
“A neutral court has finally found that no crime was committed in this case. My client is completely cleared and relieved as a result, ”commented Me Dominic Nellen, Michel Platini’s lawyer.
For his part, the ex-captain of the Blues rejoiced in a short press release to have “won a first match”, while once again alluding to a politico-judicial manipulation intended to remove him from power: “In this case, there are culprits who did not appear during this trial. Let them count on me, we will meet again”.
The prosecution can still appeal and request a new trial in this case. This possible new trial would probably not take place before 2023.
His salary at Fifa at the heart of the file
Defense and prosecution agreed on one point during this two-week trial: the Frenchman advised the Swiss well between 1998 and 2002, during the latter’s first term as head of Fifa, and the two men signed in 1999 a contract agreeing to an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, fully paid by FIFA.
But in January 2011, the former midfielder, who in the meantime became UEFA President (2007-2015), asserted a claim of 2 million Swiss francs”, described as a “false invoice” by the charge.
The two men insist on their side that they had from the start decided on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, by an oral “gentlemen’s agreement” and without witnesses, without the finances of Fifa not allow immediate payment to Michel Platini.