Governing Bodies
Ahead of new court hearing, former FIFA boss Blatter says he is victim of witch hunt
Summary
- Blatter and Platini face appeal from Swiss Federal Prosecutors
- Pair were cleared of fraud at 2022 hearing
- Blatter confident his acquittal will be upheld
- Platini’s lawyer says client is confident of being cleared again
Sepp Blatter, the former head of soccer’s global governing body FIFA, is looking forward to clearing his name at a new court hearing into allegations he made corrupt payments to French footballing great Michel Platini.
Blatter, who was president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015, told Reuters on Tuesday he was innocent and the victim of a witch hunt ahead of the appeals hearing which starts on Monday.
The 88-year-old is due to appear in court in Switzerland alongside former France captain and manager Platini, once seen as his eventual successor at the top of world football.
Both were cleared in 2022 at a lower Swiss court following a seven-year investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.24 million), a decision contested by Swiss prosecutors.
“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 told Reuters, adding the upcoming appeal was “absolute nonsense”.
“It’s a witch hunt against me, it feels like a vendetta,” Blatter added. “I am completely confident I will be cleared, I am an honest man.”
The case goes back to a payment FIFA made to Platini when he was boss of European football’s governing body UEFA in 2011, with Blatter’s approval, for work done 10 years earlier.
In the 2022 case, a judge said the pair’s account of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ for FIFA to pay Platini 2 million Swiss francs for consulting work between 1998 and 2002 was credible, and that serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was a fraudulent payment.
“The payment was made based on a contract and the first court agreed,” said Blatter. “It was correctly implemented and there was no bribery in any way.”
Platini, a three-times European footballer of the year, also denies the fraud charges “100%” said his lawyer Dominic Nellen.
The 69-year-old Frenchman, who after hanging up his boots helped organise the 1998 World Cup in his homeland, was confident he would be cleared again, Nellen said.
“My client was clearly acquitted by the court of first instance. It is incomprehensible the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has appealed the case,” Nellen told Reuters.
As a result of the investigation, Blatter and Platini both lost their jobs and were banned from the sport for several years.
In the upcoming Swiss hearing, federal prosecutors are seeking sentences of 20 months against both Blatter and Platini, suspended for two years.
The proceedings, due to take place at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court, will start in Muttenz, near Basel on Monday, with a verdict expected on March 25.
Blatter said he was looking forward to putting the case behind him, adding he was happy following international matches on television and local games in his home canton of Valais.
“I truly hope this ends the matter,” Blatter said. “I’ll be happy when everything is over and I can live in peace.”
-Reuters
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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