Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini will appear in a Swiss court today Wednesday on charges of 2015 suspicious payment fraud.
Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, will begin a two-week trial in the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellintsuna for suspected payment fraud that has kept them out of the global football scene since 2015.
The two former officials, who are also being prosecuted for mismanagement, breach of trust and fraud, are accused of “illegally receiving into FIFA’s account a payment received in 2011 in the amount of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros)” for Platini.
The court stated that Platini “submitted to FIFA in 2011 an alleged fictitious invoice for a still-existing (alleged) debt for his activities as an adviser to FIFA between 1998 and 2002”.
The trial ends on the 22nd of this month, and the three judges deliver their decisions on July 8th. Both men face up to five years in prison or a fine.
The Swiss was forced to step down as president of the world organization in 2015 and was punished by the International Federation for 8 years and then reduced to 6 years due to ethical violations after it was discovered that he authorized the payment of two million euros to Platini.
As for Platini, he is considered one of the greatest footballers in history. He won the Ballon d’Or three times in a row between 1983 and 1985 and presided over the European Union from January 2007 to December 2015.
He appealed his eight-year ban before it was reduced to four.
