BERN (SWITZERLAND), Sept 1: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was questioned on Tuesday by Swiss investigators about a USD 2 million payment he authorized in 2011 to then-UEFA president Michel Platini.
Blatter was quizzed about suspected criminal mismanagement at FIFA one day after Platini spent about three hours at the offices of Switzerland�s federal prosecutors.
The 84-year-old Blatter waved as he arrived in Bern with his lawyer, Lorenz Erni.
A criminal proceeding has been open against Blatter since the allegation was revealed in September 2015, though it was extended to Platini only three months ago.
Blatter has also been a suspect since May in a second allegation linked to USD 1 million of FIFA money gifted in 2010 into the control of now-disgraced Caribbean soccer leader Jack Warner.
Blatter has long denied wrongdoing during his 18-year FIFA presidency. His term ended following American and Swiss investigations of corruption in international soccer.
Platini was favoured to succeed his former mentor in a February 2016 election until the USD 2 million allegation ended his campaign.
Blatter instructed FIFA to pay Platini after the French soccer great asked for deferred salary from a decade earlier. Platini had been an advisor in Blatter�s first presidential term from 1998-2002.
The FIFA ethics committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that there was no valid verbal or written contract to pay the money. � AP
BERN (SWITZERLAND), Sept 1: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was questioned on Tuesday by Swiss investigators about a USD 2 million payment he authorized in 2011 to then-UEFA president Michel Platini.
Blatter was quizzed about suspected criminal mismanagement at FIFA one day after Platini spent about three hours at the offices of Switzerland�s federal prosecutors.
The 84-year-old Blatter waved as he arrived in Bern with his lawyer, Lorenz Erni.
A criminal proceeding has been open against Blatter since the allegation was revealed in September 2015, though it was extended to Platini only three months ago.
Blatter has also been a suspect since May in a second allegation linked to USD 1 million of FIFA money gifted in 2010 into the control of now-disgraced Caribbean soccer leader Jack Warner.
Blatter has long denied wrongdoing during his 18-year FIFA presidency. His term ended following American and Swiss investigations of corruption in international soccer.
Platini was favoured to succeed his former mentor in a February 2016 election until the USD 2 million allegation ended his campaign.
Blatter instructed FIFA to pay Platini after the French soccer great asked for deferred salary from a decade earlier. Platini had been an advisor in Blatter�s first presidential term from 1998-2002.
The FIFA ethics committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that there was no valid verbal or written contract to pay the money. � AP
