Swiss FIFA case against Blatter, Platini closed after 10 years

Swiss federal prosecutors finally ended their case against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini on Thursday after 10 years and acquittals after two trials.

The office of Switzerland's attorney general said it would not appeal against acquittals for both men in March at an appeal court.

The first trial was in 2022 on charges of fraud, forgery, mismanagement and misappropriation of more than $2 million of FIFA money in 2011.

The payment of FIFA money to Platini emerged in 2015 during federal investigations of international football officials by federal investigators in the United States and Switzerland.

The allegations, which were not proven twice in Swiss courts, removed both men from office and led to elections in 2016 that installed Gianni Infantino as FIFA president and Aleksander Ceferin as UEFA president.

Swiss prosecutors said on Thursday that by accepting the appeal court verdicts, it "is closing another chapter in the complex procedures related to football."