Governing Bodies
Ex-FIFA boss Blatter and France great Platini to learn fate in corruption case
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and France soccer great Michel Platini will appear before a Swiss court on Tuesday to hear whether the case that finished their careers in football will end with their acquittals or convictions for corruption.
The pair, once among the most powerful figures in global soccer, will appear at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court 2-1/2 years after they were acquitted of fraud.
Swiss federal prosecutors rejected the decision at a lower court in 2022, leading to the new hearing in the town of Muttenz, near Basel. Both men deny the charge.
The case relates to a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.27 million)payment Blatter authorised for Platini, a former captain and manager of the French national team, which was made in 2011.
Platini and Blatter said the payment was a consultancy fee paid to Platini for work between 1998 and 2002, which the Frenchman said had been partly deferred because FIFA lacked the funds to pay him in full immediately.
The affair, which emerged in 2015 when Platini was president of European soccer body UEFA, torpedoed his hopes of eventually succeeding Blatter at the top of FIFA.
Blatter and Platini were suspended from football in 2015 by FIFA for ethics breaches, originally for eight years. Although their exclusions were later reduced, the ban ended their careers as senior football administrators.
The 2022 indictment accused Blatter and Platini of deceiving FIFA staff in 2010 and 2011 about an obligation for world soccer’s ruling body to pay Platini.
“They falsely claimed that FIFA owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of 2 million Swiss francs for advisory work. This deception was achieved through repeated untruthful claims made by both accused parties,” the indictment said.
The pair were cleared in the 2022 case after a judge accepted that their account of a “gentlemen’s agreement” for the payment was credible, while there were serious doubts about the prosecution’s allegation the payment was fraudulent.
Blatter, who was FIFA president for 17 years until 2015, has insisted he had done nothing wrong. Now a frail 89-year-old, he told Reuters he was the victim of a witch-hunt.
Platini, a three-times European Footballer of the Year, insisted the money was related to backpay.
“There’s no corruption, there’s no swindling, there’s nothing at all,” he told reporters at the start of the appeal.
His lawyer Dominic Nellen said the case was designed to stop Platini becoming FIFA president.
“Platini was the most likely successor to Blatter in 2015, but someone wanted him out of the way,” Nellen said. “At every turn there seems to be an attempt to stop Platini becoming president of FIFA.”
Blatter was eventually replaced by Gianni Infantino, who had worked for Platini at UEFA. Infantino owed his candidacy to the fact that Europe’s preferred candidate, Platini, was banned from football.
Infantino has denied helping to bring about Platini’s downfall, and said he only stepped up when UEFA asked him after the allegations against Platini emerged.
Prosecutors want a sentence of 20 months in jail, suspended for two years for both Blatter and Platini, and to confiscate the money.
Both sides can appeal against the judgement to the Swiss Federal Court, the country’s highest legal authority.
-Reuters
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President of CAF, Dr Patrice Motsepe was one of the early dignitaries to congratulate the newly elected President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Ms. Kirsty Coventry.
Coventry is the current Minister of Youth, Art, Sport and Recreation in Zimbabwe. She made history by becoming the first African and the first woman to be elected President of the IOC.
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said: “On behalf of the CAF Member Associations who represent 54 African countries, we would like to express our heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Kirsty Coventry on her election as President of the IOC.
“Her election as President of the IOC fills us with enormous pride and is also a recognition of her outstanding achievements and embodiment of the philosophy of Olympism. We wish her everything of the very best.”
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Governing Bodies
After FIFA seat loss, Nigeria must now focus on FIFA World Cup qualification, says Toro
Sani Toro, Former General Secretary of the then-Nigeria Football Association (now NFF), has lamented Wednesday’s loss of the FIFA Council seat by Nigeria.
Nigeria’s candidate, Amaju Pinnick lost by a single vote to the duo of Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania and Souleman Hassan Waberi of Djibouti, scoring 29 votes.
Toro, who shares a birthday anniversary with Nigeria’s former legendary goalkeeper, Emmanuel Okala, lamented the loss and sees it more as a loss by Nigeria rather than by an individual.
Despite losing seat, Amaju Pinnick will still be relevant in FIFA
He urged both the National Sports Commission, NSC and the NFF to put the situation behind and focus more on another pressing assignment, the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, which is now on the front burner.
He was the General secretary of the Nigerian football governing body when the country first qualified for the 1994 World Cup.
“Nigeria cannot afford not to be at the forthcoming World Cup, remarked Toro whose tenure, which ran from 21 December 1993 to 3 May 1999, is second in longevity to that of Sanusi Mohammed as General Secretary.
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Amaju Melvin Pinnick rose from his seat inside the Marriott Mena House in downtown Cairo on Wednesday afternoon without any negative emotion.
He had just lost his seat on the FIFA Council (that hallowed panel of only 37 persons who rule world football), even if so narrowly.
But his character and charisma remained in place and he was unbowed. Instead, he was full of gratitude to God and a throng of persons.
“When I started 26 years ago, as a volunteer at the FIFA U20 World Cup that Nigeria hosted, I never dreamed of reaching these heights.
“Never thought I could become the number one administrator of football in Nigeria (and for eight years for that matter), play key roles in African football and easily mingle with the world’s top football governors.
“I have only gratitude to give to the Almighty God, to those who have helped me one way or the other and to all those I have met on my way.
“Football politics is fierce, but I am proud to have fought a good fight. I campaigned hard; travelled to more than 30 countries.
“Hours before the election, I was sure of close to 40 votes. But politics happened. I am not bitter about anything, just full of gratitude to everyone who supported my push.”
The former NFF President, who also served as First Vice President of CAF between 2018 and 2019, thanked Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a person and the Government of Nigeria as a whole, as well as FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino, NSC boss Shehu Dikko, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau and those he called friends in government and the corporate world.
“I am drawn to tears by the support of President Tinubu, right from the time he publicly endorsed my candidature. I am most grateful and do not take anything for granted. “I cherish my relationship with Gianni (Infantino) and appreciate his sincerity. I thank the National Sports Commission led by Shehu Dikko.
“The NFF, particularly Ibrahim Musa Gusau, were amazing in their push. Kudos also to my friends in government and the corporate world.
“I was to be no more than the head of NFF electoral committee back in 2014, but fate catapulted me to the presidency, and I became the youngest-ever Nigerian in world football’s supreme council. I am more than fulfilled.”
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