Blatter and Platini face Swiss corruption trial

BELLINZONA, Switzerland : Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA President Michel Platini are due to appear in a Swiss court on Wednesday facing corruption charges which triggered their downfall from the summit of global football.

Swiss prosecutors accuse the pair, once among the game's most powerful figures, of unlawfully arranging a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.08 million) in 2011 from FIFA to Platini.

The case meant Blatter ended his 17-year reign as FIFA president in disgrace and torpedoed hopes by former France midfielder Platini of succeeding him.

It is one of 25 investigations by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) into corruption in football, with some 12 still pending.

Following a six-year investigation, the OAG accused Blatter, 86, of "fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the further alternative of criminal mismanagement as well as of forgery of a document".

Platini, 66, is accused of fraud, misappropriation, participating in criminal mismanagement as an accomplice, and forgery of a document.

Blatter and Platini, who were once close associates but are now bitter enemies, have both denied wrongdoing. They say they had a verbal agreement over the payment, which related to consultancy work by Platini between 1998 and 2002.

Three judges at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, will hear the case in the trial which runs until June 22. A verdict is due on July 8. If convicted, Platini and Blatter face up to five years in jail.

"This case goes back to an event in 2011. It is an administrative matter, a salary payment that was owed," said Blatter. "The matter was correctly declared as a salary payment, accounted for accordingly and approved by all the relevant bodies of FIFA."

Plat