Michel Platini Asserts to Swiss Appeals Court, ‘FIFA Is Owed This Money’

On Monday, Michel Platini, the former UEFA president, addressed a Swiss appeals court that is reviewing his acquittal on fraud allegations. He stated that FIFA “owed” him the two million Swiss francs (approximately $2.2 million) central to the case.

“I still don’t understand why I am being targeted by the public prosecutor’s office,” said the three-time Ballon d’Or winner from France at the outset of his hearing.

The special appeals court in Muttenz, located near Basel, is considering a request from the Attorney General’s Office (OAG) of Switzerland to reopen proceedings against 69-year-old Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who celebrates his 89th birthday on March 10.

This lengthy legal saga traces back to 2015, when Blatter stepped down from his position amid a corruption scandal. The issues arose from the deferred payment of two million Swiss francs that FIFA paid to Platini, who served as UEFA president from 2007 to 2015, for consultancy work in 2011.

In June 2022, both men were acquitted by the Swiss Federal Court of charges that included “disloyal management”, “breach of trust”, and “forgery of securities”.

The Federal Court found that there was “not a likelihood bordering on certainty” for establishing fraud and granted them the benefit of the doubt.

Returning to court on Monday, Platini shared that he was “surprised” when Blatter first inquired about his salary expectations after hiring him as an advisor to aid in his presidential election bid in 1998.

“As I was unfamiliar with the world of FIFA, I casually mentioned ‘one million’,” Platini recalled.

“Blatter responded, ‘One million of what?’. I tried to lighten the moment and said, ‘One million of whichever currency you prefer: roubles, pesetas, lire’. He then replied, ‘One million Swiss francs’.”

In 1999, Blatter reportedly informed Platini—who had been advising without a formal contract—that he could not afford to pay him the full million, leading to a written agreement for 300,000 Swiss francs instead.

“He assured me: ‘I’ll pay you the remaining balance when FIFA has the funds’,” Platini stated.

In 2011, Platini presented an invoice that the public prosecutor later labelled as a “false invoice” intended to deceive the organisation.

Platini maintained that he would have pursued legal action had FIFA failed to settle the invoice.

“A contract is a contract, a promise is a promise,” he asserted. “FIFA owed me that money, and I would have done anything to recover it.”

On Monday, Blatter mentioned that he and Platini had reached “a gentleman’s agreement,” but stressed that it was entirely verbal, lacked witnesses, and was not recorded in FIFA’s financial statements.