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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World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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