Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA president Michel Platini have reportedly been cleared of fraud for the second time in Switzerland.
In 2011, allegations of fraud, falsification, poor management, and embezzlement of over $2 million in FIFA funds were levelled against the former heads of FIFA and UEFA.
In July 2022, the Swiss Attorney General’s Office contested an initial acquittal and sought a 20-month prison sentence with a two-year suspension.
Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, once two of football’s most influential figures, have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
According to Sky Sports, the pair were exonerated of fraud charges at the Swiss Criminal Court’s Extraordinary Appeals Chamber in Muttenz, near Basel.
Blatter authorised FIFA to pay French football legend Platini 2 million Swiss francs (now $2.21 million) in February 2011 as a supplementary, non-contracted remuneration for his work as a presidential advisor from 1998 to 2002.
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Despite being cleared in federal court twice, Blatter’s legacy remains intertwined with FIFA’s corruption scandals, which led to the downfall of several senior football officials worldwide.
Platini, once Blatter’s protégé in football politics and one of the game’s greatest players, never achieved his long-held ambition of becoming FIFA president.
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner served as UEFA president from 2007 until 2015, when he was banned from all football-related activities.
By Habeeb Kuranga
