Blatter, the former head of FIFA, and Platini were exonerated in a corruption investigation

A Swiss court freed former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France soccer legend Michel Platini of corruption accusations on Tuesday, two and a half years after they were initially exonerated of the charges.

The two, who were once among the most influential people in world soccer, were exonerated of fraud by the Swiss Criminal Court’s Extraordinary Appeals Chamber in the town of Muttenz, which is close to Basel.

After Swiss federal prosecutors filed an appeal against their 2022 acquittal in a lower court, the hearing was held.

Both men had refuted the accusation, which concerned a 2011 payment of 2 million Swiss franc ($2.26 million) that Blatter had approved for Platini.

The court expressed skepticism regarding the prosecution’s claim that Platini, a former manager and captain of the French national team, received a dishonest payment.

Blatter and Platini were charged in the 2022 indictment for misleading FIFA employees in 2010 and 2011 regarding FAB’s duty to compensate Platini.

Falsely, they asserted that Platini was entitled to or that FIFA owed him two million Swiss francs for advising services. The indictment stated that the accused individuals made repeated false statements in order to accomplish this deceit.

However, the court exonerated the two, ruling that their claim of an oral agreement for the payment could not be disregarded.

Because FIFA lacked the money to pay him in full right away, Platini had claimed that the payment had been partially postponed until 2011.

The court found that the two had been consistent in their explanations of the payment, which included consulting services that Platini provided to Blatter from 1998 to 2002.

The court cited Platini’s background as a top football player and coach as justification for the quantity of the payment, citing the legal precept that favors the accused when in doubt.

“It cannot be assumed that the defendants acted with the intention of enriching themselves in the sense of the charged offences,” the judge said.

His aspirations of succeeding Blatter, who was expelled from FIFA due to the issue, were dashed by the scandal that surfaced in 2015 while Platini was president of UEFA, the body that oversees European soccer.

In 2015, FIFA banned Blatter and Platini from football for ethical transgressions; the initial suspension was for eight years, but it was eventually lowered.

Platini claimed that 10,000 individuals had sent him messages of support and that he was glad the matter was concluded.

“The ten-year persecution of FIFA and certain Swiss federal prosecutors is now over,” Platini informed reporters. “Now it’s all over. I am quite delighted that my honor has returned to me today.

“I believe the case was meant to keep me from becoming FIFA president,” the 69-year-old claimed, adding that he was now too old to play football again.

He is now able to get the money back that the Swiss authorities had seized and retained.

Following the verdict, a thin Blatter gave his daughter Corinne a hug and expressed his relief at the ruling.

For me, it is a huge relief because it has been going on for a decade. Reporters compared it to a sword of Damocles dangling over his head.

“And now it’s over and I can breathe,” admitted the 89-year-old.

The prosecution had requested that Blatter and Platini each receive a 20-month jail term with a two-year suspension.

The Swiss attorney general’s office said it would review the written judgement, before deciding whether to appeal again to the Swiss Federal Court, the country’s highest legal authority.