Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has again denied that the World Football Association’s dubious payment to former UEFA director Michel Platini was illegal. Later on Thursday, Platini will also be heard in the criminal court in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
During the interrogation, 86-year-old Blatter said the suspicious payment of 1.8 million euros is a delayed wage payment. He finds it “incomprehensible” that he has to answer to the court for this.
Blatter, who was to be heard on Wednesday but then struggled with health problems, believes he has already been punished to the maximum because he has been “disowned” by the world. The media would also have given him a “criminal record”.
Blatter and Platini are on trial for a suspicious transaction from 2011. Platini, then president of the European football association UEFA, received a payment of 1.8 million euros from FIFA. According to Blatter, the 66-year-old Frenchman was entitled to that amount because of various work he is said to have performed. Swiss prosecutors are questioning that.
FIFA wants Platini to return the money. The World Football Association suspended Blatter in 2015 over the dubious payment to Platini, who himself stepped down as UEFA president in 2016.
Blatter and Platini face up to five years in prison for fraud, dishonest administration, breach of trust and forgery. The trial will run until June 22 and a verdict is expected around July 8.
Michel Platini may have his say in court later today.
Michel Platini may have his say in court later today. Photo: Getty Images
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