by Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA, and Michel Platini, the ex-President of UEFA, will be back in front of a Swiss court on Monday to check the indictment for fraud that they have thrown from the summit of global football.
A Special Appeal Court, which is located in Muttenz near Basel, will hear a request from the State General Prosecutor of the State (OAG) to the reopening of the procedure against Blatter, which will be on March 10 and the 69-year-old Platini 89, and the 69-year-old Platini.
The long -term legal saga began in 2015 when Blatter, head of FIFA, quit in a corruption crisis. It results from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) FIFA paid in 2011 Frenchman Platini for consulting services.
In June 2022, the couple were acquitted of charges by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which included “illoyal management”, “violation of trust” and “falsification of the securities”.
The Court came to the conclusion that the fraud was “not determined with a probability that borders on security”, and therefore applied the general principle of criminal law, according to which “the doubt benefits the accused”.
The OAG immediately appealed against the judgment and the Court of Appeal will hold a hearing from Monday to Thursday and a judgment by March 25th.
The defense and the public prosecutor agree that the Frenchman Blatter was able to advise FIFA between 1998 and 2002 during the first term of office of the Swiss administrator, and that the two men signed a contract in 1999 that agreed to be remunerated by CHF 300,000 to “fully paid in full FIFA”.
Blatter and Platini say that at the beginning they have not allowed immediate payment with an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, but the FIFA financial state.
In January 2011, “more than eight years after the end of his activities as a consultant”, Platini “claimed a debt of two million Swiss francs” that FIFA paid.
At that time, Blatter ran for re-election because the FIFA president and Platini had become head of European football. In December 2010, FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
The public prosecutor argue that this is an “unfounded” payment that was obtained by the internal controls of the FIFA by “cleverly misleading” by false statements by the two managers – the key criterion in fraud.
CFE/NIP/ALH/PB/JC
