Michel Platini and the former president of FIFA, the Swiss Sepp Blatter , have been acquitted of the accusation of fraud against FIFA . The federal criminal court of Bellinzona did not accept the requests of the public prosecutor who, last June 15, had asked for a year and eight months of imprisonment (with suspension of the sentence) for both . The two defendants have always declared themselves innocent .
Platini , 67, former president of Uefa, was accused of having " illegally received , at the expense of FIFA, the payment of 2 million Swiss francs " (1.8 million euros) by Blatter, in turn ex n .1 of the International Football Association.
The defense and the prosecution agree on one point: the three-time Golden Ball advised Blatter well between 1998 and 2002, during the latter's first mandate at the helm of FIFA, when the two had agreed a contract in 1999 which awarded to Platini an annual salary of 300 thousand Swiss francs , paid in full by FIFA.
But in January 2011 the former Juventus midfielder , who in the meantime became president of Uefa (2007-2015) " claimed a compensation of 2 million Swiss francs ", unjustified according to the accusation.
The two defended themselves by claiming that from the beginning they had decided on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs , with an oral " gentlemen's agreement " and without witnesses, without FIFA's finances allowing immediate payment to Platini.
(Unioneonline / vl)
