Blatter, Platini cleared of corruption charges for second time over FIFA payment

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and French football legend Michel Platini were on Tuesday, both cleared of corruption charges by the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in the town of Muttenz, near Basel, Switzerland.

This comes two-and-a-half years after the duo was first acquitted of the offences.

Blatter and Platini, once among the most powerful figures in world football, were cleared of fraud mismanagement.

The hearing took place after Swiss federal prosecutors appealed against their 2022 acquittal at a lower court.

Both men had denied the charges which is over a 2 million Swiss franc (£1.6m) payment made to Platini, who was UEFA president at the time, in 2011.

The attorney general’s office in Switzerland had challenged a first acquittal in July 2022 and asked for sentences of 20 months, suspended for two years.

The scandal ended both men’s careers in football as they were banned from the global game in 2015, with Platini’s dream of succeeding Blatter at FIFA in tatters.

Blatter, Platini cleared of corruption charges for second time over FIFA payment