Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini get relief, deemed not guilty in fraud trial

Formerly disgraced FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were found ‘not guilty’ in a recent trial.

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Former International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were found ‘not guilty’ in a recent fraud trial regarding payments of two million Swiss francs (£1.6 million) made to Platini by Blatter. Both men had denied wrongdoing and said the transfer was a late payment for Platini’s advisory work for FIFA. On his arrival at the court on Friday, Blatter said: “I am not innocent in my life, but in this case, I am innocent.” Blatter, 86, and former UEFA president Platini, 67, were banned from football in 2015 and indicted last November.

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Platini was a French international player who appeared in 72 games for his national football side between 1972 and 1989. The Frenchman also had a notable stint at Juventus, where he made 147 appearances. Following his playing days, Platini was hired as an advisor by then-UEFA president Blatter according to the latter’s last testimony [during the trial], reports BBC.

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Blatter told former France captain Platini wanted a million Swiss francs (£816,030) per year, but Blatter told him FIFA could not afford that fee. They settled on 300,000 Swiss francs (£244,809) per year, with the outstanding total to be paid later. “I knew when we started with Michel Platini that is not the total, and we would look at it later,” Blatter had told the court during the trial, adding they shook hands on their “gentleman’s agreement.”

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In contrast, Platini said: “It was an agreement between two sportsmen. I found nothing wrong with that. I trusted the president and knew he would pay me one day.” Platini stopped working for FIFA in 2002 but did not pursue the payment until 2010, telling the court he had not needed the money at his departure.

However, Platini later heard that two former employees had received substantial payments and approached FIFA, who he said told him to send an invoice. He did so in January 2011, with the money paid ten days after Blatter’s approval. The Swiss Office of the Attorney General accused Blatter and Platini of “fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the further alternative of criminal mismanagement as well as of forgery of a document”. Platini, also charged as an accomplice, said he felt the ban was a deliberate attempt to stop him from becoming FIFA president in 2015.