Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and France soccer great Michel Platini are due to appear in court in Switzerland on Monday accused of fraud – 2-1/2 years after they were cleared.

Both men, once among the most senior figures in global soccer, were acquitted in 2022 at a lower Swiss court following a seven-year investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.22 million) to Platini.

The Swiss federal prosecutor has appealed against that decision, leading to a new hearing at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz, near Basel.

“The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an appeal against the first-instance judgment and submitted a statement of appeal in October 2022 requesting that the judgment be set aside in full,” the prosecutor said.

It declined to give further details.

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 the Frenchman, who was president of the game’s European governing body UEFA at the time.

“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 added.

The case wrecked Platini’s hopes of eventually succeeding Blatter, who resigned from FIFA in 2015 following a separate corruption scandal.

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 pair were cleared in the 2022 case, after a judge accepted that their account of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ for the payment was credible. The judge also said serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was fraudulent.

The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini, the former France football captain and manager.

‘WITCH HUNT’

Blatter, who was FIFA president for 17 years until 2015, said before the hearing that he felt he was the subject of a witch hunt.

“The Federal Criminal Court in 2022 said the contract between Platini and me was correct, and I expect the new court will confirm this first decision,” Blatter, 88, told Reuters last week, adding the upcoming appeal was “absolute nonsense”.

“I am completely confident I will be cleared, I am an honest man.”

Platini, three times European Footballer of the Year, is also confident of being acquitted, said the 69-year-old’s lawyer.

“The court of first instance was right to find that the disputed payment of 2 million francs was lawful,” Platini’s lawyer Dominic Nellen said.

“My client denies any criminal behaviour and is relaxed about the appeal hearing. He will also be acquitted there.”

A verdict is expected on March 25.

-Reuters

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Goalkeepers who hold onto the ball for longer than eight seconds will concede a corner under a new rule approved by the International Football Association Board on Saturday.

Currently, Law 12.2 states that a goalkeeper has six seconds to release the ball before the opposing team is awarded an indirect free-kick but this has now been amended and the change will come into force next season.

On-field referees will be aided in their decision-making by a visual five-second countdown.

“After trials have shown a major positive impact where goalkeepers have been holding onto the ball for too long, The IFAB has unanimously decided to amend Law 12.2,” IFAB said after its 139th Annual General Meeting, hosted by the Irish FA.

“The amendment means that if a goalkeeper holds the ball for longer than eight seconds (with the referee using a visual five-second countdown), the referee will award a corner kick to the opposing team (rather than the current indirect free kick for more than six seconds),” added the statement.

IFAB also announced that any competitions will be able to introduce laws meaning only captains of each team can approach the referee. The Premier League adopted that rule this season and it was enforced at Euro 2024.

“The IFAB agreed that stronger cooperation and communication between captains and referees, who often face verbal and/or physical dissent when making decisions, can help instil higher levels of fairness and mutual respect, both of which are core values of the game.”

Another tweak, to Law 8.2, concerns how a drop ball is instigated. From next season if the ball is outside the penalty area when play is stopped, it is dropped for the team that had or would have gained possession if this is clear to the referee.

Otherwise, it is dropped for the team that last touched it. The ball is dropped at its position when play was stopped.

The rule changes will be operational at the FIFA Club World Cup which kicks off in June. That tournament will also be used to expand a trial for referees to wear body cameras as part of the live match transmission.

“It was agreed that the successful use of body cameras worn by referees at grassroots level in England should be further tested and promoted given its positive impact on player behaviour,” IFAB said.

The IFAB is comprised of the four British football associations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) with one vote each, and world governing body FIFA, covering the remaining 207 national associations, with four votes.

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International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach will resign as a member of the Olympic body after handing over to his presidential successor in June, the IOC said on Wednesday.

Bach, an Olympic fencing champion in 1976, steps down from his post this year after 12 years in charge. He will hand over on June 23 to the new president to be elected on March 20.

“The IOC Executive Board today agreed to accept the resignation of IOC President Thomas Bach as an IOC Member, effective after 23 June 2025,” it said in a statement.

Bach, 71, could have stayed on as a member until the age of 80, having joined the IOC in 1991.

There are seven candidates to succeed Bach at the March 20 vote at the IOC session in Greece.

They are World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multiple Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry, who is Zimbabwe’s sports minister, as well as Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president.

International cycling chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe and Olympic newcomer and multimillionaire Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski Federation, complete the candidates’ lineup.

-Reuters

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