After a decade-long legal battle, former UEFA president Michel Platini has been fully acquitted. Swiss federal prosecutors have decided not to appeal the acquittals of Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, effectively closing the case against the two former giants of world football. The Swiss Attorney General's Office confirmed that they would not contest the March appeal court's rulings, marking the end of a saga that has spanned a decade.
The legal battle began with a 2022 trial over accusations including fraud, forgery, and mismanagement of over $2 million in FIFA funds dating back to 2011. The accusation centered around a payment of CHF2 million to Platini for consultancy work for the world football association, based on an oral contract with Blatter. The payment was for work carried out from 1998 to 2002, which Platini stated had been partially deferred because FIFA lacked the funds to pay him in full immediately.
Investigations by authorities in the United States and Switzerland in 2015 brought the contentious payment to light, focusing on international soccer officials. Despite the severity of the allegations, Swiss courts found neither Blatter nor Platini guilty after two separate trials. The Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court initially cleared the pair of fraud charges in March 2025, upholding the principle of "in dubio pro reo" (when in doubt for the accused). Following the acquittals at the Federal Criminal Court in 2022, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) lodged an appeal. Now, the OAG has accepted the verdicts.
According to Platini's lawyer, Dominic Nellen, the criminal proceedings have "finally failed" after two acquittals and the withdrawal of the Office of the Attorney General. He stated that Platini has been acquitted with legal effect and fully rehabilitated under criminal law. Nellen added that the proceedings had massive personal and professional consequences for Platini, preventing his election as FIFA president in 2016.
The case led to their removal from office, resulting in the 2016 elections that brought Gianni Infantino to the role of FIFA president and Aleksander Ceferin to UEFA's top position. The Swiss prosecutors acknowledged the finality of the appeal court's decisions, noting that they mark the closure of "another chapter in the complex procedures related to football". The acquittal for fraud, embezzlement, mismanagement, and falsification of documents is therefore legally binding and final.
