In the legal turmoil for six years, Sepp Blatter will soon be determined on his fate in the case of the alleged unfair payment of 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) he made in February 2011, to Michel Platini.
Monday, August 9, the former Swiss president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is to be heard one last time, in Zurich, by the federal prosecutor Thomas Hildebrand in the context of the criminal proceedings opened against him in 2015, for “Suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and unfair management”.
Medically fit to appear, despite a heart operation undergone in December, the former 85-year-old leader will know, after this “final hearing”, whether the public prosecutor of the Swiss Confederation (MPC) will file an indictment against him and Michel Platini.
An indictment would pave the way for a trial before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (TPF) for the Valaisan as for the former French president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The latter, former number 10 of the Blues, has been prosecuted since 2020 for “Suspicion of fraud, participation in breach of trust, participation in unfair management and forgery in securities”.
The two men suspected of lying
In charge of investigating the case, Thomas Hildebrand suspects the two men of having lied about the reason for this payment, made a few months before the election to the FIFA presidency of 2011. Mr. Blatter has always claimed that it was a balance of wages paid, by virtue of a “Oral contract” sealed in 1998, to Mr. Platini for the period during which the French served as adviser to the president of FIFA (1998-2002). A version confirmed by the former captain of the Blues, who declared this payment to taxes in Switzerland. Mr. Blatter declares to World :
” The payment has been approved by all relevant FIFA bodies and the old age insurance has been deducted as a result. It was only carried out after a delay because FIFA was initially unable to pay the full amount and Platini only made his claim in 2010. I look forward to the final audience with optimism and hope this will be the end point of this story. This case harkens back to an event that happened ten years ago and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office made it a problem in the fall of 2015. Even today I wonder who brought the events of 2011 to the present day. attention from the MPC. “
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