Blatter, Platini charged with fraud by Swiss authorities
The Swiss investigation was opened in 2015 amidst the series of scandals which engulfed FIFA
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA president Michel Platini have been charged with fraud over unlawfully arranging a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.19 million), the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland said on Tuesday.
The two men were indicted on Tuesday following a six-year investigation into the payment that Blatter authorised to be paid from world soccer's governing body FIFA to Platini in 2011. Blatter and Platini said the payment was for backdated salary.
"This payment damaged FIFA's assets and unlawfully enriched Platini," Switzerland's OAG said on Tuesday.
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The Swiss investigation was opened in 2015 amidst the series of scandals which engulfed FIFA. The affair led to a FIFA ethics investigation, following which both men were banned from the game and forced to leave their positions.
The OAG accused Blatter and Platini of "fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the further alternative of criminal mismanagement as well as of forgery of a document." Platini, who captained France to victory in the 1984 European Championship, was also charged as an accomplice.
