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Ex-FIFA chief Blatter states his innocence on court return over fraud case
Blatter and Platini were acquitted in 2022 at a lower Swiss court following a seven-year investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.22 million) to Platini.
The Swiss federal prosecutor has appealed against that decision, leading to a new hearing at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel.
The prosecutor asked for the judgment to be set aside in full.
Blatter told the court on Monday he was not guilty of fraud.
“When you talk about falsehoods, lies and deception, that’s not me. That didn’t exist in my whole life,” he said.
“We had principles in my family - we take only money we have earned,” he added. “I am innocent.”
The 2022 indictment accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for world soccer’s ruling body to pay the Frenchman, who was president of the sport’s European governing body UEFA at the time.
“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2 million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment said.
The case wrecked Platini’s hopes of eventually succeeding Blatter, who resigned from FIFA in 2015 following a separate corruption scandal.
Blatter and Platini were suspended from football in 2015 by FIFA for ethics breaches, originally for eight years, although their exclusions were later reduced.
The pair were cleared in the 2022 case after a judge accepted that their account of a “gentlemen’s agreement” for the payment was credible. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was fraudulent.
The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini, the former France soccer captain and manager.
Blatter, who was FIFA president for 17 years until 2015, said before the hearing that he felt he was the subject of a witch hunt.
“We did nothing wrong, nothing,” the frail-looking 88-year-old told reporters outside the court at the end of the first day’s hearing.
Platini, three times European Footballer of the Year, denied the accusation of fraud “100%,” the 69-year-old’s lawyer said.
Platini told the court that he had a contract agreed to work for four years as an advisor to Blatter between 1998 and 2022. He was not paid immediately because Blatter said FIFA lacked the funds to pay him at that time.
Platini invoiced FIFA for the 2 million francs payment in 2011.