February 26 – Ageing former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he is looking forward to finally clearing his name at a second appeals trial into allegations he made corrupt payments to ex-UEFA boss Michel Platini.
Blatter, who ran FIFA from 1998 to 2015, insists he is innocent and victim of a witch hunt.
The seemingly never-ending saga involving the two men who were once the most powerful in world and European football could finally be reaching its denouement.
Blatter and Platini, who presided over their respective organisations before being swallowed up by the case, were acquitted in July 2022 of fraud, embezzlement and other corruption charges in a criminal action brought by Swiss judicial authorities that gripped world football politics.
The acquittals took place despite both having been banned from the game by FIFA but prosecutors immediately appealed.
The not guilty verdicts into Blatter and Platini, who courted and coveted Blatter’s job but never got it, was hugely significant in their respective bids to clear their names but a blow too to the Swiss judicial process and to FIFA.
The verdict followed an 11-day trial at the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland and centred around the so-called $2 million “disloyal payment” from FIFA to Platini with Blatter’s approval in 2011, for work done a decade earlier.
Both men had denied wrongdoing and said the transfer was belated payment for Platini’s advisory work for Blatter though there was no written proof of it. Blatter had described it as a “gentleman’s agreement”.
Now, just when they thought they were free of any legal follow-up, they will be back in the spotlight when the case is examined once more starting on Monday.
Blatter, now 88, is due to appear in court in Switzerland alongside Platini.
“The Federal Criminal Court in 2022 said the contract between Platini and me was correct, and I expect the new court will confirm this first decision,” Blatter told Reuters, adding the upcoming appeal was “absolute nonsense”.
“It’s a witch hunt against me, it feels like a vendetta,” Blatter added. “I am completely confident I will be cleared, I am an honest man.”
“The payment was made based on a contract and the first court agreed. It was correctly implemented and there was no bribery in any way. I truly hope this ends the matter. I’ll be happy when everything is over and I can live in peace.”
In the upcoming Swiss hearing, federal prosecutors are seeking sentences of 20 months against both Blatter and Platini, suspended for two years.
The proceedings, due to take place at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court, will start in Muttenz, near Basel, with a verdict expected on March 25.
Platini, a three-time European footballer of the year who after hanging up his boots helped organise the 1998 World Cup in his homeland, also denies the fraud charges “100%” according to his lawyer Dominic Nellen.
“It is incomprehensible the Office of the attorney-general of Switzerland has appealed the case,” Nellen told Reuters.
Separately, Blatter believes England should by now have won the hosting rights for the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
“England has done a great job for the game of football and they should be rewarded. They have tried since 1966 to get the World Cup back and it’s a shame they didn’t get it.”
He poured scorn on Saudi Arabia staging the event in 2034 without any opposition, a strategy orchestrated by his successor Gianni Infantino. “England should have had it before Saudi Arabia, but it was organised in a very clever way so nobody was in opposition,” he said.
Blatter said he was also concerned about the expansion of football’s main competition which he claims was diluting the quality.
Next year’s event in the United States, Mexico and Canada will feature 48 teams, up from 32 at the 2022 edition.
“It’s become too big,” Blatter said. “Will it become like in grand slam tennis where everybody goes to the World Cup? What next – 128 teams? I’ve always said there are too many teams and the quality is not the same. Who loses out – the spectators.”
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