‘That’s not me’: Blatter denied fraud as £1.6m Platini row returns to court

Former Fifa kingpin Sepp Blatter reiterated his innocence over a £1.6m payment made to ex-Uefa chief Michel Platini as the fraud case returned to court on Monday.

Two of football’s most influential figures of the 21st century are back in the dock after Swiss prosecutors appealed a decision to acquit both men at a previous trial in 2022.

The case relates to a payment of 2m Swiss francs made to Platini and authorised by Blatter in 2011, which the pair said was a belated reward for the Frenchman’s advisory work.

“When you talk about falsehoods, lies and deception, that’s not me. That didn’t exist in my whole life,” Blatter, 88, told the court in Muttenz, near Basel.

Platini’s lawyer said before the appeal hearing that he expected the 69-year-old former France captain and coach to be acquitted again. 

“The court of first instance was right to find that the disputed payment of 2m francs was lawful,” said Dominic Nellen. “My client denies any criminal behavior.”

The original trial accepted the claim that the payment related to “a gentleman’s agreement” that Platini would eventually invoice Blatter and Fifa for the work done a decade earlier.

But the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland requested that the judgment be set aside in full. It is reported to be seeking a suspended 20-month sentence for both men.

“They falsely claimed that Fifa owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2m Swiss francs for advisory work,” the indictment said. “This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties.”

Blatter resigned as Fifa president in 2015 amid a major but unrelated corruption scandal. He and Platini were banned from football for eight years and the latter stepped down as Uefa president, although their sentences were later reduced.