By John Revill
MUTTENZ, Switzerland(Reuters) – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and France soccer great Michel Platini are due to appear in court in Switzerland on Monday accused of fraud – 2-1/2 years after they were cleared.
Both men, once among the most senior figures in global soccer, were acquitted in 2022 at a lower Swiss court following a seven-year investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.22 million) to Platini.
The Swiss federal prosecutor has appealed against that decision, leading to a new hearing at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel.
“The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an appeal against the first-instance judgment and submitted a statement of appeal in October 2022 requesting that the judgment be set aside in full,” the prosecutor said.
It declined to give further details.
The 2022 indictment accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for world soccer’s ruling body to pay the Frenchman, who was president of the game’s European governing body UEFA at the time.
“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2 million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment added.
The case wrecked Platini’s hopes of eventually succeeding Blatter, who resigned from FIFA in 2015 following a separate corruption scandal.
Blatter and Platini were suspended from football in 2015 by FIFA for ethics breaches, originally for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced.
The pair were cleared in the 2022 case, after a judge accepted that their account of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ for the payment was credible. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was fraudulent.
The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini, the former France football captain and manager.
‘WITCH HUNT’
Blatter, who was FIFA president for 17 years until 2015, said before the hearing that he felt he was the subject of a witch hunt.
“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, 88, told Reuters last week, adding the upcoming appeal was “absolute nonsense”.
“I am completely confident I will be cleared, I am an honest man.”
Platini, three times European Footballer of the Year, is also confident of being acquitted, said the 69-year-old’s lawyer.
“The court of first instance was right to find that the disputed payment of 2 million francs was lawful,” Platini’s lawyer Dominic Nellen said.
“My client denies any criminal behaviour and is relaxed about the appeal hearing. He will also be acquitted there.”
A verdict is expected on March 25.
($1 = 0.9002 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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