Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini cleared of corruption charges

In a major turn of events, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and legendary French football player Michel Platini were both cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court on Friday. Two of the most powerful persons in football went under trial over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs (£1.6m) which was made by Blatter to Platini in 2011. Both the men had earlier denied about any wrongdoing 

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini corruption charges dropped

BBC in it's report stated that  Blatter on his arrival at the court on Friday claimed his innocence in this case. The 11-day trial took place at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland and concluded on 22 June. As per the Guardian report, the Swiss prosecutors claimed that allegation “was made without a legal basis” and “unlawfully enriched Platini” however the judge in their trial found them not guilty.

Everything you need to know about Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini corruption case

The 86-year-old Sepp Blatter had asked Michel Platini to be his adviser after being elected as the FIFA president for the first time in 1998. Back then Platini had demanded Blatter to pay him 1 million francs a year only for Blatter to turn it down stating that Fifa could not afford such a salary. 

However, both the former FIFA President (Blatter)and Platini agreed that the French football captain would be paid 300,000 francs a year, with the outstanding cash to be paid at a later date. As per the report, Platini signed a written contract with FIFA in 1999, which specified only a salary of CHF 300,000, with no mention of the extra payments believing that a full payment will be done eventually. 

Back in the early 2000s, FIFA was going through tough times financially as a result of which no payment was done to Platini once he resigned as a technical advisor in 2002. The 1984 European Championship winner, however, could not pursue the outstanding debt until 2010, telling the court that he did not require the money back then. 

However, after hearing about two former FIFA employees receiving substantial payments, Platini asked FIFA for his remaining payment and was informed that the football governing body did owe him money and that he should send an invoice. He sent FIFA a claim for CHF 2 million in January 2011 and was paid 10 days later after the invoice was approved by Blatter.