Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the great French footballer and former UEFA boss Michel Platini were again acquitted of corruption charges by a Swiss court, world agencies reported, quoted by sportal.bg.
The two - once among the most influential figures in world football - stood trial in the abuse case at the extraordinary appeals chamber of the Swiss criminal court in the town of Mutenz, near Basel. The hearing came after Swiss federal prosecutors appealed their acquittal in 2022 to a lower court.
At issue is 2 million Swiss francs, which were transferred in 2011 by FIFA to Michel Platini with the approval of Sepp Blatter. Both have denied the charges. The payment corresponds to an update of the salary between 1998 and 2002 of the French legend, a three-time Ballon d'Or winner who supported the Swiss to become FIFA president and then became his advisor, the Frenchman's lawyer Dominique Nehlen claimed.
The prosecution had demanded a 20-month suspended prison sentence with two years of probation.