Former French midfielder and UEFA president Michel Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter were indicted on Tuesday morning over unlawfully being parties to a payment of 2 million Swiss francs (€1.8 million), the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland revealed.
“The OAG accuses Joseph Blatter of fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the further alternative of criminal mismanagement as well as of forgery of a document,” the OAG said in a statement.
“Michel Platini is accused of fraud, in the alternative of participating in misappropriation, for in the further alternative of participating in criminal mismanagement, as an accomplice, as well as of forgery of a document.”
Blatter had previously been handed a new six-year ban from the game in March for multiple breaches of FIFA’s ethics code.
At that time the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee found Blatter to be in breach of rules concerning duty of loyalty, conflicts of interest and offering or accepting gifts or other benefits.
A FIFA statement in March said:
“The investigations into Sepp Blatter covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to FIFA competitions that were paid to top FIFA management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts.”