Blatter, Platini return to court for new fraud trial over CHF2 million FIFA payment

Former FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter (R front) is surrounded reporters as he arrives at the special appeals court in Muttenz, near Basel, Switzerland, on March 3, 2025. Keystone-SDA

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and former UEFA President and FIFA Vice President Michel Platini appeared in court in Switzerland on Monday accused of fraud - 2.5 years after they were cleared.

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In July 2022, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, canton Ticino, acquitted the two men of the charges of fraud, dishonest management and forgery of documents. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has appealed against this verdict.

Michel Platini will attend the entire appeal trial in Muttenz, canton Basel Country, his lawyer Dominic Nellen said on Monday. The former football star rejects the accusations and denies any illegal acts.

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, who will turn 89 in a week, is also present at the trial. To preserve his health, it is expected to last only a few days.

Special court

Olivier Thormann, president of the Court of Appeal of the Federal Criminal Court, led the investigation against Blatter and Platini when he worked at the OAG; he has had to recuse himself from the trial. Platini subsequently obtained the withdrawal of other judges and clerks, requiring the formation of an extraordinary court. The trial has therefore resumed on Monday before a randomly selected court in Muttenz.

The 2022 indictment accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for world soccer’s ruling body to pay the Frenchman, who was president of the game’s European governing body UEFA at the time.

“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of CHF2 million for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment added.

The case ruined Platini’s chances of eventually taking over from Blatter, who resigned from FIFA in 2015 following a separate corruption scandal.

Blatter and Platini were suspended from football in 2015 by FIFA for ethics breaches, originally for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced.

The pair were cleared in the 2022 case, after a judge accepted that their account of a “gentlemen’s agreement” for the payment was credible. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was fraudulent.

The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini. The pair have consistently denied wrongdoing.

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

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