On Tuesday, the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court acquitted former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA president Michel Platini of fraud. The case was often framed around a controversial payment. In 2011, Blatter approved a back payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.26 million) to Platini. The court in Muttenz, outside Basel, ruled on Tuesday. This ruling brings a long-awaited conclusion to a legal saga that has hurt many football officials on a personal and professional level.
The payment in question was a consultancy fee for Platini’s service between 1998 and 2002. Platini has said that the payment was delayed in part because of FIFA’s financial troubles in those days. The scandal, which surfaced in 2015, not only thwarted Platini's ambitions to succeed Blatter as FIFA president but led to Blatter's departure from the organization.
The court case had in fact been initiated by an appeal from Swiss federal prosecutors against the 2022 judgement that had found both Blatter and Platini not guilty. Despite their henious actions, no smoking gun evidence was ever provided to convict the pair, allowing them to be absolved time and again. Both Blatter and Platini have long maintained their innocence on the fraud charges.
For Dominic Nellen, a lawyer for Platini, the question is how deeply these criminal proceedings have affected Platini’s life.
"The criminal proceedings have had not only legal but also massive personal and professional consequences for Michel Platini – although no incriminating evidence was ever presented. Among other things, the criminal proceedings prevented his election as FIFA president in 2016." – Dominic Nellen
He added that the Swiss authorities need to ‘recognise when a battle cannot be won legally’ and stop proceedings.
"After two acquittals, even the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland must realise that these criminal proceedings have definitively failed. Michel Platini must finally be left in peace in criminal matters." – Dominic Nellen
The scandal’s unexpected eruption in 2015 while Platini was president of UEFA fundamentally impacted the landscape of international football governance. The legal fight and subsequent fallout pretty much killed his chances of capturing the FIFA crown. Meanwhile, Blatter's association with the affair compelled his exit from football's governing body.
