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Michel Platini was acquitted by Swiss justice. The former UEFA boss was being sued, along with ex-Fifa president Sepp Blatter, over a suspicious payment of 2 million Swiss francs between the two men in 2011, settled just before Sepp Blatter was re-elected to the head of FIFA. No plot there, says the Federal Court which acquitted the two men. It is the end of a legal saga of more than seven years which hastened the end of Michel Platini’s career.
Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter are acquitted of all the charges that weighed on them. Better, the Court grants them compensation of 142,000 Swiss francs (about 140,000 euros) for Michel Platini and 102,000 francs (i.e. 100,000 euros) for Sepp Blatter, relates our special correspondent in Bellinzona, Switzerland, Jeremiah Lance. The judges therefore did not follow the thesis of illegitimate payment defended by the Swiss prosecutor’s office, which demanded a 20-month suspended prison sentence.
For two weeks, the 67-year-old Frenchman and the 86-year-old Swiss had appeared to have ” illegally obtained, to the detriment of Fifa, a payment of 2 million Swiss francs » (1,8 million d’euros) « in favor of Michel Platini “. Defense and prosecution agreed on one point: the triple Ballon d’Or advised Sepp Blatter well between 1998 and 2002, during the latter’s first term at the head of Fifa, and the two men signed a contract in 1999 agreeing to an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, entirely 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 ” false invoice by the prosecution.
It is therefore a success for Michel Platini and Seep Blatter who have always defended a gentlemen’s agreement for services rendered. And it’s a snub for prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand and Swiss justice, which has still not obtained a major conviction in the various trials related to Fifa. When the verdict was announced, Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter exchanged a satisfied look. Even if the Swiss prosecution can still appeal.
