Today, July 8, the Swiss Federal Court announced the verdict in the corruption case against ex-FIFA president Joseph Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini. Both football officials were acquitted by the courtʼs decision.
This is reported by Reuters and Sky News.
In the case of fraud, corruption, breach of trust, and forgery, Blatter and Platina faced up to five years in prison, although on June 15, 2022, Swiss prosecutors requested one year and eight months in prison for them each.
Today, the court decided that the fact of fraud was not established and issued a verdict taking into account the general legal principle, which orders to interpret doubts in favor of the accused. The lawyers of Blatter and Platini also stressed that there is no motive in the case — the former apparently did not receive any benefit from the transfer of 2 million francs to Platini.
- In December 2019, FIFA filed lawsuits in the Swiss courts against Blatter and Michel Platini, demanding the return of 2 million Swiss francs wrongfully paid to Platini in February 2011.
- According to the version of the investigation, Blatter approved the illegal payment of Platini retroactively from FIFA funds for his work in the organization. The case led to the resignation of Blatter and Platini in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Both were also banned from holding any position in football, first for 8 and then for a further 6 years.