ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss federal prosecutors have filed an appeal to overturn the acquittals of former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France footballing great Michel Platini on corruption charges, they said on Thursday.
Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court had cleared the two in July after a seven-year investigation in which both were booted out of the sport.
A judge said the pair’s account of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ for FIFA to pay Platini 2 million Swiss francs ($1.99 million)for consulting work was credible, and serious doubts existed about the prosecution’s allegation that it was a fraudulent payment.
Prosecutors had said at the time they would examine the written verdict before deciding whether to appeal against the two, who were once among the most powerful figures in global soccer and had denied wrongdoing.
“We confirm that the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has filed an appeal with the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court within the statutory time limit … and has requested that the first-instance judgment be set aside in its entirety,” the OAG said, confirming a report in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper.
It declined further comment.
($1=1.0049 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Clarence Fernandez/Peter Rutherford)
