(ATR) A Swiss prosecutor questions former FIFA president Sepp Blatter as a years-long investigation into a two million Swiss franc ($2.2 million) payment made in 2011 to former UEFA boss Michael Platini gathers steam.
Platini, 65, was brought in for questioning by prosecutor Thomas Hildebrand in Bern on Monday. Platini in June was added to the criminal proceeding, which was opened in September 2015.
Blatter, 84, told reporters as he arrived that "I have never been asked questions" about the case and was "happy to be able to give information on it", according to AFP.
FIFA deemed the money given Platini a "disloyal payment" and suspended Blatter and Platini from football. Blatter resigned in 2015 after 17 years in charge of FIFA.
In December, FIFAfiled claims in Swiss courts in an attempt to recover the money.
Platini, a three-time European Footballer of the Year, was originally banned for eight years by FIFA for accepting the payment agreed verbally with Blatter and executed after the vote to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup. Many believe Blatter was paying off Platini for his help in landing Qatar the World Cup. Both men deny that, saying it was for Platini’s work as an adviser for FIFA up until 2002.
Platini’s eight-year ban was reduced to six years by a FIFA appeals committee and then reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May 2016. He quit his position as UEFA president after the CAS ruling and completed his four-year ban in October 2019.
Blatter was banned for eight years by FIFA, though the penalty was reduced to six years. His attempt to get the ban reduced further was denied by CAS. He still has more than a year left in his ban.
Written by Gerard Farek
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