FIFA has been advised to take legal proceedings to recover an “undue payment” from its former president Sepp Blatter to ex-vice president Michel Platini.
The world governing body’s governance committee has advised FIFA to take the necessary steps to recover the two million Swiss francs (equivalent now to £1.54m) plus fines imposed on the pair when their disciplinary cases were heard before the statute of limitation passes at the end of the year.
The payment from Blatter to Platini was approved on January 18, 2011 and transferred to Platini from FIFA on February 1 of the same year.
FIFA investigated the matter and established that the payment had no basis in contract and was to be considered an undue payment under its ethics rules. Platini said it was a back payment for work he had carried out between 1998 and 2002.
Both men were initially suspended for eight years in December 2015, with both sanctions reduced to six years on appeal.
In September 2016 Platini’s suspension was further reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and his fine reduced from 80,000 Swiss francs to 60,000 Swiss francs (£46,314). The Swiss Federal Tribunal confirmed the decision of CAS in June 2017 and ordered Platini to pay a further 22,000 Swiss francs in legal expenses to FIFA.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced on September 24, 2015 that it was conducting an investigation in relation to the payment.
However, FIFA’s governance committee noted: “There has been no outcome or decision in connection with this investigation, nor does it appear that there will be one soon, in particular, since the investigation has been going on for over four years.”
