Former and UEFA presidents Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will stand trial in Switzerland in June accused of corruption in football.
Blatter was head of international football governing body FIFA for 17 years from 1998, while Platini held the equivalent role on a European level with UEFA between 2007 and 2015, the year both men were banned from football for until 2023 by the FIFA ethics committee.
That ban came into effect after the pair were found to have engaged in an ‘abusive execution’ of their roles when a ‘disloyal payment’ of £1.3m was paid to Platini.
Now, Blatter and Platini have been charged with fraud by Swiss prosecutors in relation to the same 2011 payment, and first being indicted in November. The payment is alleged to have been ‘demanded’ by Platini in exchange for consultancy work between 1998 and 2002, when served as an advisor to Blatter.
Prosecutors said that Platini demanded the money ‘over eight years after the termination of his advisory activity’, and added that ‘with Blatter’s involvement, FIFA made a payment to Platini in said amount at the beginning of 2011.’
Charges for both men include fraud, embezzlement, ‘unfaithful business management’, and forgery of documents. They will stand trial in a court in the city of Bellinzona at the beginning of summer. If found guilty, they could face significant fines or even prison sentences.
Their controversial relationship saw them control football during the period in which and Qatar were awarded the FIFA World Cups of 2018 and 2022 respectively, in an era when a series of corruption Scan**ls rocked the sport.
Platini was originally set to campaign to replace his mentor as FIFA president until they were banned by the ethics committee, with Gianni Infantino ultimately replacing Blatter, and Slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin becoming UEFA president.
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