Swiss prosecutors end case against ex-FIFA chief Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini after 10 years

Blatter, the 89-year-old former FIFA president, and Platini, 70, once head of UEFA, were accused of fraud, forgery, mismanagement, and misappropriation over a controversial payment of more than $2 million in 2011. Both denied any wrongdoing throughout.

In 2022, the pair were first cleared by Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. Prosecutors, unsatisfied with the verdict, appealed the ruling—forcing another trial. But when the appeal court also acquitted them earlier this year, prosecutors finally conceded defeat. By choosing not to appeal a second time, the Swiss attorney general’s office announced it was “closing another chapter in the complex procedures related to football.”

At the heart of the case was a payment made by FIFA to Platini more than a decade ago. Prosecutors alleged that the money, around two million dollars, was fraudulent and had “no legal basis.” Blatter and Platini countered that the transaction was legitimate, the result of a gentlemen’s agreement dating back to 1998. At that time, Blatter had recruited Platini to act as his personal adviser but claimed FIFA could not afford his full salary request of one million Swiss francs per year. Instead, they agreed on a reduced payment of 300,000 francs annually, with the rest to be settled later. The delayed settlement came in 2011, sparking allegations of corruption. But both trials sided with the defence, accepting that an informal but genuine agreement existed between the two men.

In 2015, FIFA was thrown into chaos when authorities raided a luxury hotel in Zurich at dawn, arresting senior officials as part of a separate US-led investigation into global corruption. The fallout led to the most severe crisis in FIFA’s history, with accusations of bribery, racketeering, and money laundering implicating numerous figures across the football and business worlds. Blatter, facing mounting pressure, was forced to resign from his role as FIFA president after 17 years at the helm. Platini, once seen as the natural successor to Blatter, saw his ambitions of taking the top job collapse overnight.

Thursday’s announcement may finally allow both men to step out from under the weight of suspicion that has followed them for years. While their reputations have been badly scarred, the final closure of the case marks the end of one of sport’s longest and most bruising legal sagas.