- Sepp Blatter is in the dock again after an appeal against his acquittal in 2022
- Michel Platini appears alongside his former mentor as the pair face Swiss court
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Former FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter cut a frail figure as he appeared in a Swiss court to face accusations of fraud on Monday.
Blatter, 89 next Monday, appeared alongside French football legend Michel Platini who formerly led UEFA.
The pair were acquitted in a 2022 trial over a payment of 2m Swiss francs (£1.6m) made to Platini and authorised by Blatter in 2011.
The scandal ended both men’s career in football as they were banned from the global game in 2015 with Platini’s dream of succeeding Blatter in tatters.
Both Blatter and Platini denied wrongdoing and said the transfer was belated payment for Fifa advisory work done by the Frenchman.
The Swiss federal prosecutor appealed against the 2022 verdict and the retrial is expected to last until Thursday, with a verdict due on March 25.
Sepp Blatter was as defiant as ever despite looking physically weaker than three years ago
The 88-year-old maintains that he is innocent, saying: ‘We had principles in my family’
France legend Michel Platini is also in the dock for the scandal which cost him his job at UEFA
Blatter may have looked physically weaker than his appearance in the dock three years ago but he was as defiant as ever as he reaffired his innocence to the court.
‘When you talk about falsehoods, lies and deception, that’s not me. That didn’t exist in my whole life,’ he told the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel.
‘We had principles in my family – we take only money we have earned. I am innocent.’
Despite the rigmarole of the trail, Blatter had earlier insisted to reporters outside the court that he was in fine spirits.
‘I am very positive. Today is a very sunny day and I’m going into this with positive energy,’ he said.
At the 2022 trial, the judge concluded that the pair’s version of events was credible.
Blatter had claimed that he had ‘a gentleman’s agreement’ with Platini but that the agreement had been purely oral, was made without witnesses and did not appear in FIFA’s accounts. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was fraudulent.
The Swiss federal prosecutor appealed the verdict, saying in a statement: ‘The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has filed an appeal against the first-instance judgment and submitted a statement of appeal in October 2022 requesting that the judgment be set aside in full.’
The criminal action against the former head of FIFA has taken a major toll on his health
Michel Platini appears in good spirits despite the seriousness of the charges against him
The indictment against Blatter and Platini states: ‘They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of two million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties.’
The criminal action against Blatter has taken a major toll on his health and last year, in an interview with the Telegraph, he accused prosecutors of banking on him dying before his retrial so that they avoided him winning again in court.
The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini.
