Switzerland’s federal prosecutor will not challenge the acquittal of Michel Platini and Joseph Blatter, the former heads of UEFA and FIFA, reported RTS. The ruling, which cleared them of fraud, breach of trust, mismanagement and forgery, is now final.
By accepting the verdicts at both trial and appeal, the prosecutor has closed another chapter of football-related court cases, it said on Thursday.
Blatter, FIFA’s Swiss ex-president, and Platini, his French counterpart at UEFA, were cleared on 25 March 2025 by a special appeals chamber in Muttenz, near Basel. The judges invoked the principle of in dubio pro reo—when in doubt, rule for the accused.
At issue was a payment of CHF 2 million (US$2.3m) that FIFA made to Michel Platini in 2010 for advisory work carried out a decade earlier. Prosecutors argued it was an illicit transfer, authorised by Mr Blatter, and charged both men with fraud and other offences. But the court accepted their explanation that the sum was a belated salary payment based on a verbal agreement.
The judges said the evidence left insurmountable doubts about the prosecution’s version of events. They could not prove intent to enrich or any measurable loss to FIFA. That reasoning confirmed the men’s acquittal, first handed down in 2022 by Switzerland’s federal criminal court.
The prosecutor challenged the appeal decision with an unresolved question: why did Mr Platini wait until 2010 to demand his dues for consultancy work done between 1998 and 2002? However, the court found the defence’s answer plausible—FIFA’s finances had improved by then, so the Frenchman had delayed his claim.
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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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