Blatter and Platini to face Swiss judges in June

Sepp Blatter in 2016: this summer's trial in Switzerland is sure to attract much media attention. © Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA President Michel Platini will stand before the Federal Criminal Court to face corruption charges over a CHF2 million payment made by FIFA to Platini in 2011.

Both Blatter and Platini have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the past over the incident, for which the Swiss Attorney General’s Office indicted them last November.

Prosecutors allege Blatter improperly arranged the CHF2 million ($.2.15 million) payment to Platini for consulting work done between 1998 and 2002. The two men claim the payment was for backdated salary.

Both are suspected of fraud and misappropriation amid what became part of the biggest corruption scandal to shake football’s world governing body, which is based in Zurich.

Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, resigned in 2015, followed by Platini as president of UEFA in 2016, shortly after stepping down from running for the FIFA presidency. Both were handed six-year bans for ethics violations.

The trial before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court is due to start on June 8 and last until June 22, the court said on Tuesday.

Confident

Platini’s Swiss lawyer, Dominic Nellen, said he was looking forward to the trial.

“We are confident that the outcome of the trial will establish the perfect good faith of Mr. Michel Platini in this affair, which has been fabricated to remove him from the presidency of FIFA,” Nellen told the Reuters news agency.

The office of Blatter’s attorney declined to comment. At the time of his indictment, Blatter said he was optimistic about the court procedure and he hoped that the facts would finally be fully established.