Blatter and Platini cleared of corruption

Two former power houses of world soccer, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France soccer great Michel Platini, were cleared of corruption charges.

Two and a half years after they were first acquitted of the offences in 2022, the hearing came about after Swiss federal prosecutors appealed the first decision. Both men had denied the charge.

Blatter was relieved outside the courthouse near Basel.

“I'm happy that the pressure that has been weighing on me for over 10 years is now gone. It was a difficult time for me. And now the justice system has finally done what's right and proper. And of course, this is a big event for me, my family, and also for my girlfriend. I still need to get myself together. I'm full of emotions right now, and I can tell you, life goes on, and things are a little easier now.”

The case related to a two million Swiss franc, or $2.26 million, payment Blatter authorized for Platini, a former captain and manager of the French national team.

The payment was a consultancy fee paid to Platini for work carried out between 1998 and 2002, which he said had been partly deferred because FIFA lacked the funds to pay him in full immediately.

The court said there were doubts about the prosecution's allegation that the payment was fraudulent, and that the pair's account of an oral agreement for the payment could not be ruled out.

The scandal emerged in 2015 when Platini was president of European soccer's ruling body UEFA and ended his hopes of succeeding Blatter, who was forced out of FIFA over the affair.

Platini expressed frustration outside court after the decision, saying the case had been about preventing him from becoming FIFA president.

But he added that today he is happy because "this matter is over, we can move on"

The Swiss attorney general's office said it would review the judgement, before deciding whether to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court, the country's highest legal authority.