BBC Sport
[ Source: BBC Sport ]
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was innocent when he appeared in a Swiss court alongside France soccer great Michel Platini, two and a half years after they were both cleared of fraud.
Blatter told the court he was not guilty of fraud.
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 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 Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini.
A verdict is expected on March 25.
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