BELLINZONA (SWITZERLAND), 9 Jun. (dpa/EP) –
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter denied this Thursday that he had acted wrongly during his statement in the trial for fraud against the body, and assured that the nearly two million euros that were paid to Michael Platini, then president of UEFA, were of a “late payment of wages”, for which he had gone through all the due process in the governing body of world football.
“This is a late payment of wages. It is an administrative matter in an association and will be dealt with under civil law,” Blatter said Thursday at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.
The former leader admitted that being questioned about fraud allegations in 2015 caught him by surprise. “This ‘shock’ has lasted seven years and is still there,” said the former FIFA president, who recalled that he already faced the “maximum penalty” at that time, being “ostracized” in the world. “The media gave me a criminal record,” he stressed.
ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING FIFA
Blatter and Platini are accused of defrauding FIFA due to the payment the Frenchman received for work done as an adviser between 1998 and 2002, among other crimes. After his election as head of FIFA in 1998, Blatter agreed to cooperate with Platini, who reportedly told him then that he was worth “a million”.
In August 1999, a retroactive contract was agreed to at the beginning of the year with a salary of 300,000 Swiss francs. When the former French soccer player pointed out that this was not the total amount agreed, Blatter said: “We’ll see later.”
In 2011, the amount of two million Swiss francs was invoiced by Platini, who is also scheduled to be questioned this Thursday before the first witnesses are heard.
Blatter, 86, was scheduled to be questioned on Wednesday on the first day of the trial, which will last until June 22, but was delayed because he was unwell. Both declared their innocence and the verdict will be known on July 8.