For the third time in two and a half months, Michel Platini will go, Monday, November 16, to Bern, to the headquarters of the Public Ministry of the Swiss Confederation (MPC). The former president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is to be heard again there by Federal Prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand in the context of the alleged payment case “Disloyal” – according to the prosecution – 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million current euros) that made him, in February 2011, the former boss of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Sepp Blatter.
This is the fourth time that the former no 10 des Bleus, 65, has been heard by the MPC since September 2015 and the opening of criminal proceedings against Mr. Blatter. Originally, the Frenchman was auditioned as “Person called upon to provide information” (assisted witness) before receiving, in May 2018, a letter from the Swiss prosecution indicating that the investigation was not directed against him.
Then, after the resumption of the investigation by the prosecutor Hildbrand, the procedure was extended, in June, to Mr. Platini “ for suspicion of participation in unfair management and forgery of securities ”. Heard on August 31 and September 7 as “warned”, the former player repeated, like Mr. Blatter, that this payment – which was the subject of an invoice sent in January 2011 by the French to FIFA – was a salary arrears for the period (1998-2002) when he served as adviser to the FIFA president.
Many witnesses heard
The two men claim to have sealed an oral contract in 1998, agreeing on an annual remuneration of 1 million Swiss francs. In 1999, they initialed a written contract establishing an annual salary of 300,000 Swiss francs paid to the French. In March 2011, this payment of 2 million Swiss francs was validated by the FIFA finance committee in the 2010 accounts of the International Federation.
The opening of these criminal proceedings caused the fall of MM. Blatter and Platini, suspended in October 2015 by the FIFA ethics committee. A favorite to succeed Mr. Blatter, the Frenchman then had to give up running for the presidency of the International Federation, leaving the way open to his right-hand man at UEFA, Gianni Infantino, in February 2016.
You have 60.23% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
