- Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini however found not guilty of fraud, forgery, and mismanagement.
- The Swiss Attorney General’s Office will decide what to do after the Court’s written explanation.
- FIFA will wait for the full reasoned judgment before commenting on the two’s acquittal.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini however found not guilty of fraud, forgery, and mismanagement on Friday. The Swiss court said both men illegally paid 2 million Swiss Francs ($2.05 million US)
The trial centered on FIFA’s 2011 payment to Platini. Platini was UEFA’s president at the time.
After the trial, the court said, “The evidence supports the accused’s version, so the indictment cannot considered probable. The court sticks to the version where the prosecution has serious doubts.”
Blatter testified in June that the payment to Platini was his salary for consulting work between 1998 and 2002. “Owed money. Blatter asked why a civil matter was being heard in a criminal court.
“Platini told me I was worth a million dollars, so I told him, ‘You’ll be with me for a million.'”
Platini said he’d get back at “culprits” in his case but didn’t name them. “After seven years of lies and manipulation, justice has finally been done,” the 67-year-old man said in a statement.
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Lead Federal Attorney of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland Thomas Hildebrand told, “We have noted the Criminal Chamber’s decision.”
The Swiss Attorney General’s Office will decide what to do after the Court’s written explanation. FIFA will wait for the full reasoned judgment before commenting on the two’s acquittal.
