Blatter and Platini are accused of fraud in Switzerland

Joseph Blatter, former FIFA president and Michel Platini, former UEFA president, were accused in Switzerland of fraud and other crimes in the case of the suspicious payment that banned them from world football in 2015.

The announcement was made this Tuesday (2) by the Swiss Public Ministry.

It will now be up to the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona to validate the accusation and decide whether to prosecute the two former leaders, who are also accused of mismanagement, abuse of trust and forgery of documents.

After six years of investigation, they were accused of having unlawfully agreed to a payment of 2 million Swiss francs from FIFA ($2.2 million) to Michel Platini, according to a statement by the country’s Public Ministry.

Platini was Joseph Blatter’s advisor between 1998 and 2002, in his first term at FIFA. A contract signed in 1999 provided for an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs ($328.5 thousand).

According to the prosecution, in 2011, more than eight years after the end of his advisory role, the former French captain took on a debt of 2 million Swiss francs, which was paid by FIFA with the help of Joseph Blatter .

Since the beginning of the investigations, Blatter and Platini claim that they verbally agreed an annual salary of 1 million Swiss francs (US$1.1 million) for this advisory work.

The fraud charge can lead to five years in prison.

“I look forward to the trial in the Federal Criminal Court with optimism and I hope this story comes to an end and that all the facts are dealt with properly,” Blatter said in a statement on Tuesday.

“As for the payment of the sum of 2 million francs from FIFA to Michel Platini, I can only repeat myself: it was based on an oral contract that regulated Platini’s advisory activities to FIFA between 1998 and 2002.”

Blatter said the payment was delayed because FIFA was unable to pay the full amount and that Platini only filed his claim for the money in 2010.

The former leader said that the payments were approved by all responsible bodies ​​of FIFA and that Platini paid taxes on the value in his residence in Switzerland.

Platini’s attorney Dominic Nellen said last month: “From a defense standpoint, it is clear that the investigation should have been stopped a long time ago. There are enough witness reports and documents in the case to prove my client’s innocence.”