‘I am having difficulty breathing’ – Sepp Blatter fails to testify on his first day in court
Former presidents of FIFA and UEFA Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, respectively have on the early hours of Wednesday arrived at court in Switzerland ahead of their 11-day trial on charges of fraud.
The former FIFA and UEFA Presidents Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini left court on day one with Blatter having told the court that he was too ill to testify.
During the court hearing in Switzerland on Wednesday, the former global football boss confirmed that he is unable to testify because of chest pains.
“The pain will come back and I am having difficulty breathing,” said the 86-year-old in a whisper.
The judges at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona permitted Blatter, to make his testimony on Thursday.
Both were charged with fraud and other offences by Swiss prosecutors following a six-year investigation. The probe was into a controversial two million US dollars (£1.5 million) payment.
The case from September 2015 ousted Blatter ahead of schedule as Fifa president and ended then-Uefa president Platini’s campaign to succeed his former mentor.
It centres on Platini’s written request to Fifa in January 2011 to be paid a backdated additional salary for working as a presidential adviser in Blatter’s first term, from 1998 to 2002.
Both Blatter and Platini have long denied wrongdoing and cited a verbal agreement they had made, now more than 20 years ago, for the money to be paid.
Blatter has been charged with fraud, mismanagement, misappropriation of Fifa funds and forgery of a document. Platini has been charged with fraud, misappropriation, forgery and as an accomplice to Blatter’s alleged mismanagement.
Earlier on Wednesday, lawyers for Blatter and Platini failed to move the trial to a local court or dismiss Fifa’s civil claim against them to recoup the 2 million Swiss francs.
The trial is due to conclude on 22 June, with a verdict expected on 8 July. If found guilty, the defendants could be jailed for up to five years or fined.
