Verdict against Blatter and Platini: smear comedy titled “FIFA”

Their acquittal is a victory across the board for the two ex-football bosses Blatter and Platini – but a dramatic defeat for FIFA and the Swiss Attorney General. In football, however, little is likely to change.

In the end it was a mixture of “for lack of evidence” and “in dubio pro reo”, in case of doubt for the accused. Obviously, both the evidence and the arguments of the public prosecutor were too thin for the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. So that means: Now Michel Platini gets back the confiscated around two million euros in consultant fees, and both – including Sepp Blatter – also receive compensation on top of that. A victory across the board for the two ex-football bosses and certainly a great deal of satisfaction.

The big losers of this trial were also sitting in the courtroom of the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona today. On the one hand, the Swiss Attorney General, which has not been able to prove the allegations against Blatter and Platini beyond any doubt. Yes, even more: your investigators and the former federal prosecutor Michael Lauber were themselves temporarily the subject of the investigation. Why, for example, did Lauber meet FIFA boss Gianni Infantino several times? What was that about? The suspicion that Infantino or his close associates blacked out Blatter and Platini so that Infantino could become FIFA boss himself persists to this day.

Platini is now threatening FIFA

And that brings us to the second big loser in this process, the world football association FIFA. In Bellinzona, FIFA appeared as a joint plaintiff and had to leave the courtroom empty-handed today. FIFA will neither get back the consultant’s fee to Platini nor the social benefits of around 229,000 euros paid on it. And what should weigh even more heavily: FIFA will probably not get rid of the allegations of trickery and corruption.

After today’s verdict, Platini at least threatened to attack those he believed to be the real culprits, ergo FIFA, in order to “bring the truth to light”. And if he makes that true, the smear comedy titled “FIFA” should turn another pirouette. After all, Blatter and Platini are also concerned with restoring their “good” reputation.

Everything is forgotten in Qatar

Above all, Platini has not forgotten that not only did he not become FIFA boss in 2015, but that he was also banned for eight years by the ethics committee of the world football association – as was Sepp Blatter. After the acquittal today, this could possibly be legally regarded as an unjustified professional ban and result in a claim for compensation worth millions.

The beautiful sport of football lost once again today. Suspicions that the major international football governing bodies are corrupt will remain, and the widespread belief that senior officials almost always get off scot-free has once again been confirmed.

You don’t have to be a pessimist to realize that international sport will probably continue to be about hidden payments, haggling over top positions and dubious award decisions in the future. But let’s be honest: By the time the ball rolls in Qatar in November at the latest, none of this will matter anymore and today’s verdict will be long forgotten anyway.