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Joseph Blatter and Michel Platini charged with fraud

2021-11-02T15:21:16.269Z


When it came out in 2015 that Uefa boss Michel Platini had received two million Swiss francs from Fifa under President Sepp Blatter, both fell. Now they have to answer before a Swiss court.


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Sepp Blatter (left) and Michel Platini in 2015. Shortly afterwards, the payment of two million Swiss francs became known

Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / REUTERS

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, 85, and ex-Uefa boss Michel Platini, 65, have been charged with fraud and other offenses by the Swiss federal prosecutor's office.

The background to this is the investigation into a payment of two million Swiss francs to Platini in 2011 for allegedly long-ago consulting activities.

The Swiss authorities have been investigating this since 2015. “The evidence gathered by the BA has reinforced the suspicion that this payment to Platini was made without legal basis. This payment damaged Fifa's assets and unlawfully enriched Platini, ”said a statement from the authority.

Blatter was president of the world football association Fifa for 17 years. Platini was considered his designated successor. When the payment became known in September 2015 and the authorities started their investigations, it led to the early removal of Blatters as Fifa president and ended the campaign of the then Uefa president Platini to succeed his former mentor. Fifa banned both of them for eight years. These bans were reduced to six years in February of the following year. Platini's expulsion was later reduced to four years, at the same time he announced his resignation as Uefa president. This ban has now expired.

It is about Platini's written request to FIFA in January 2011 to retrospectively receive an additional salary for his work as presidential advisor in Blatter's first term from 1998 to 2002.

Blatter authorized Fifa to make the payment within a few weeks.

He was preparing to be re-elected against Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam, with Platini's influence on European voters being an important factor.

Both Blatter and Platini have long denied wrongdoing, relying on an oral agreement they made more than 20 years ago to pay the money.

Blatter has now been charged with fraud, mismanagement, embezzlement of Fifa funds and forgery of documents.

Platini was charged with fraud, embezzlement, forgery and aiding and abetting Blatter's alleged mismanagement.

Both are threatened with a trial before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona in a few months.

mey / AP

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-11-02

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