Lausanne (AFP)
Former UEFA president, Michel Platini, and former FIFA president, Joseph Blatter, who are on trial in Switzerland for fraud, will learn their fates on Friday morning in the case that ended the careers of the two men.
The Federal Criminal Court in Pelinzuna, Switzerland, will issue its decision on Friday in this case, which can carry a sentence of up to five years in prison, for defrauding FIFA, by obtaining unjustified compensation of two million Swiss francs in favor of the former French star.
Platini and Blatter signed a written agreement in August 1999 stipulating that FIFA would pay 300,000 Swiss francs annually, confirming that they agreed to pay 700,000 Swiss francs more annually when the FIFA finances allowed it.
Platini, who then held the presidency of the European Union, presented a bill of two million Swiss francs at the beginning of 2011, which Blatter signed and presented to FIFA as a salary arrears.
Last June, the Swiss Public Prosecution requested a suspended prison sentence of one year and eight months.
But on Friday at 10 am, the 67-year-old French and 86-year-old Swiss are hoping to find only one way out: the innocence in a defense on the grounds of political and judicial manipulation aimed at keeping them out of power.
During the investigation and two weeks of hearings, the defense sought to introduce the possibility of a possible behind-the-scenes role for current FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was Platini’s right-hand man at UEFA and was unexpectedly elected to the FIFA presidency at the beginning of 2016.
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