Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, were cleared Friday over a suspected fraudulent payment that shook the sport and torpedoed their time at the top. Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona acquitted the pair in a trial following a mammoth […]

Paris (AFP) – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, were on Friday acquitted following a two-week trial in June over a suspected fraudulent payment that rocked the sport and brought a premature end to their time at the top. AFP Sport looks back at the colourful careers of […]

Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, were acquitted Friday over a suspected fraudulent payment that shook the sport and torpedoed their time at the top. Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona rejected the prosecution's request for a suspended prison sentence […]

Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – The Swiss prosecutor's office on Wednesday demanded an 18-month suspended jail sentence for Michel Platini and ex-president of FIFA Sepp Blatter, accusing them of fraud. Blatter and Platini are being tried over a two-million-Swiss-franc payment in 2011 to the former France captain, who by that time was in charge of European […]

Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sepp Blatter struck a "gentleman's agreement" with Michel Platini to pay him a million Swiss francs ($1.02 million) a year as an adviser, the former world football chief told their trial on Thursday. The French football legend had jokingly asked Blatter for a million, without specifying the currency, and the then-FIFA […]

Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, appeared in a Swiss court on Wednesday to face trial over a suspected fraudulent payment. Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, appeared in Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following an investigation […]

Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP) – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, went on trial in Switzerland on Wednesday over a suspected fraudulent payment. Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, appeared in the Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following an investigation that began in […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA chief Michel Platini will appear before Swiss prosecutors on charges of fraud between 8-22 June, the criminal court concerned said Tuesday. This will be the final hearing in a long-running saga that began in 2011 and stems from a payment from FIFA to Platini […]

Berlin (AFP) – Former UEFA president Michel Platini could receive a cash compensation from European football's governing body, even though he is serving a four-year suspension for corruption. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday claims Platini could yet receive a pay-out as part of a severance and retirement package. UEFA confirmed to AFP that […]

Athens (AFP) – Disgraced football leader Michel Platini said in a farewell speech to UEFA on Wednesday that he felt no guilt over a $2 million payment from FIFA that has seen him suspended for four years. "Just simply know that my conscience is clear, that I am certain that I committed not the slightest […]

Paris (AFP) – World football's governing body FIFA has given the green light for disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini to address Wednesday's UEFA Congress in Athens, triggering anger in Germany. A source close to Platini, currently serving a four-year ban,  said last week he would attend the meeting of European football's governing body, when the […]