Platini and Balater acquitted 10 years after investigations sports
Former Swiss Court of Appeal, former European Football Association (UEFA), acquitted Michel Platini and former President of the International Federation (FIFA), Swiss Joseph Blatter, again in a corruption case that broke the aspirations of the French to hold the presidency of the highest football body in 2015.
As in the first case, in 2022, the Plain Appeals Court of the Federal Criminal Court held in Motations (northwest) did not respond to the prosecution requests, which at the beginning of March requested that each of the defendants be imprisoned for 20 months with a suspended implementation.
Platini, 69, who won the Golden Ball of the Best European Player 3 times in a row (1983, 1984 and 1985), told reporters as he left, “My honor is prepared” and “now the 10 -year persecution by the International Football Association (FIFA) and a few Swiss federal prosecutors” have ended.
“They wanted to prevent the presidency of the International Federation … I know that time was an important factor for my enemies. They do not care for a million dollars: it is the time factor. They kept me for 10 years.”
Referring to FIFA’s absence from the Motations hearing, despite his great lawyer in the Court of First Instance, he concluded, “They did not attend the appeal session. They know very well that they won. We know that.”
In turn, Blatter said, “I am happy to liberate from this pressure that has exhausted me for ten years. It was a difficult period for me, and now justice was achieved. This is an important moment for me, for my family and friends.”
10 years of investigations
After nearly 10 years of investigations and the issuance of an innocence in the Court of First Instance, the door is still legislative to submit a final appeal to cassation before the Swiss Federal Court, but only on limited legal principles.
For a period of 4 days, such as Platini and Balater, 89, again on charges of “obtaining illegal, at the expense of FIFA, the amount of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros)” for “in favor of Michel Platini”.
The prosecution and defense agreed on one point, which is that Platini worked as a consultant to Balater between 1998 and 2002, during his first term as head of “FIFA”, and the two men signed a contract in 1999 in which they agreed on an annual salary of 300,000 Swiss francs, which “FIFA” is completely paid.
But in January 2011, the former French national team star and Juventus demanded that he became president of the European Football Association (2007-2015) to “the amount of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros)”, which the prosecution described as a “false bill”.
The Agreement of the gentlemen
The two men insist that they agreed from the start on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, through a “oral agreement between the masters” without witnesses, and that “FIFA” did not allow him to pay him immediately to Platini.
“The reason behind the current procedures (which started in 2015 after the Platter’s resignation) was only to prevent Michel Platini from becoming president of the International Football Association,” Platini’s lawyer Dominic Nilin told the court.
He also called for a “moral compensation” for his client, whose career and reputation were “destroyed” at a time when he appeared, as president of “Wiva” and is still at the top of his sporting glory, in an ideal position to take over the leadership of world football.
But legally, the context of the case is of great importance.
On the other hand, Blatter confirmed during the trial that the French “deserved the amount”, before Platini narrated the details of the negotiations. “A million Swiss francs” said.
Corruption
In his pleadings, Prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand highlighted the “contradiction” with a 1999 contract, and the contrast to the usual practices of the authority, and in general those related to the work world, and revealed audit reports that show that FIFA still has abundant cash reserves.
Is the issue related to identifying any version is the most credible? No, Dominic Nilin reminded, because the burden of proof in criminal procedures falls on the prosecution “it is not the responsibility of the defense to prove the existence of such an oral agreement,” but the responsibility of the prosecution is to prove that the accused defrauded FIFA.
However, in 2022, the Federal Criminal Court acquitted the two men in the first place, considering that fraud was “not proven to be close to certainty”, even if a decision without a record written with such a high salary appears “somewhat unusual.”
The defense also claimed that Blatter had no “motivation” to defraud FIFA, because he did not win one year of this issue, while Platini “would find different ways much simpler” for wealth such as negotiating a reward or signing a new contract.
Beware, Hilderland recalled Platini’s support for the re -election of Blatter for a fourth term in May 2011, which raised doubts about corruption in the courtroom.
But “Blatter considered this hypothesis not proven,” according to his lawyer, his compatriot Lorenz Irny.
