Ex-football officials: Blatter and Platini accused of fraud

The ex-football officials Blatter and Platini have been charged in Switzerland with fraud in the millions. FIFA, which was then run by Blatter, is said to have wrongly paid Platini two million Swiss francs.

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office has charged former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and former UEFA boss Michel Platini with fraudulent payments of one million euros. The two ex-top officials are accused of having illegally obtained a payment of two million Swiss francs from the world football association to the French Platini.

“The evidence gathered by the BA has confirmed the suspicion that this payment to Platini was made without a legal basis. This payment damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,” said a statement from the authority.

Blatter: “Look to the negotiation with optimism”

Blatter reacted calmly. “I look forward to the trial before the Federal Criminal Court with optimism,” he said through his spokesman, Thomas Renggli. “I hope that this story will come to an end and that all the facts will be properly dealt with.” Like Platini, Blatter has always denied all allegations.

The core of the indictment is the payment of two million francs (1.86 million euros) from FIFA, which was then run by Blatter, to Platini in 2011. The money was received by Platini for consulting work for FIFA between 1998 and 2002, Blatter said. When the payment was made, the corresponding social security contributions were settled, and Platini taxed the amount in Switzerland.

Accusation of embezzlement and forgery of documents

The Federal Prosecutor’s office, however, found during their investigation that Platini had agreed to an annual compensation of 300,000 Swiss francs between 1998 and 2002 during his activity as Blatters advisor and had received it from FIFA. Eight years after the end of this activity, Platini claimed the two million francs and received it from FIFA with the help of Blatter.

The prosecutors also accuse Blatter of embezzlement and forgery of documents. Platini has to answer for the help. The FIFA Ethics Committee banned Blatter and Platini six years ago. That also meant the end of her career.