JOHANNESBURG - A Swiss court has acquitted former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini in their long-running corruption case.
Blatter and Platini listened in silence as the Extraordinary Court of Appeal clerk read out a decision identical to the one handed down in 2022, which had initially cleared them.
This comes after prosecutors had requested suspended sentences of 20 months for the pair.
However, the federal criminal appeals court accepted the two men’s explanation that the payment had been for consultancy work.
After almost 10 years of legal proceedings, a final appeal is still possible before the Swiss Supreme Court, but only on limited legal grounds.