Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini acquitted of corruption by Swiss court

Both men were banned from football for eight years in 2015

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini have been acquitted of corruption by a Swiss court. Criminal proceedings were launched into the pair after a payment of two million Swiss francs (£1.7m) from FIFA to Platini was uncovered in 2015. At the time, Platini was the president of UEFA and a FIFA vice-president and he was expected to succeed Blatter as president of FIFA. https://twitter.com/footballdaily/status/1545321073432006656 Both men were banned from football for eight years in 2015, but this was later reduced.

Swiss prosecutors had said it "was made without a legal basis" and "unlawfully enriched Platini" but the judge in their trial found them not guilty. Platini will now get back his two million Swiss francs.

Related links:

• Michel Platini accuses FIFA of making him and Sepp Blatter look like ‘fraudsters’
• Sepp Blatter unable to testify amid “difficulty breathing” at FIFA fraud trial
• Simon Brodkin: How I pranked FIFA and Sepp Blatter