FIFA goes after Blatter, Platini in bid to recover $2 mln

Record ID: 1448626

  • Title: FIFA goes after Blatter, Platini in bid to recover $2 mln
  • Date: 16th December 2019
  • Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (FILE - JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF FORMER FIFA PRESIDENT, SEPP BLATTER, SEATED NEXT TO AND TALKING WITH FORMER FIFA VICE-PRESIDENT, MICHEL PLATINI (2 SHOTS) PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JUNE 19, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOT) PLATINI SPEAKING ON PHONE STARA PAZOVA, SERBIA (FILE - MAY 2011) (REUTERS) BLATTER BLATTER AND PLATINI VARIOUS OF BLATTER AND PLATINI MEETING CHILDREN (2 SHOTS) ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (FILE - OCTOBER 20, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FIFA HEADQUARTERS FIFA SIGN
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2019 15:28
  • Keywords: FIFA Michel Platini Sepp Blatter
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001BA8777J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: World soccer body FIFA on Monday (December 16) filed claims in Swiss court seeking to recover 2 million Swiss francs ($2.01 million) that it said were paid inappropriately by ex-FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter to former French football star Michel Platini.
    Blatter and Platini, who could not immediately be reached for comment, have maintained they did nothing wrong amid what became part of the biggest corruption scandal to shake the world soccer body, resulting in numerous prosecutions and convictions in the United States.
    Blatter and Platini were both banned from soccer in late 2015 over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs made to the Frenchman by FIFA with Blatter's approval in 2011 for work he had done a decade earlier.
    Platini, the head of European soccer body UEFA from 2007 to 2015, was originally banned from all soccer-related activities for eight years, though the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later reduced the suspension to four years. His ban ended this year.
    Blatter's ban was reduced from eight years to six, a period later upheld by CAS in a decision that concluded the now-83-year-old had "breached the FIFA Code of Ethics since the payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis."
    ($1 = 0.9972 Swiss francs)
    (Production: Stefan Haskins)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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