Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, face trial on Wednesday over a suspected fraudulent payment that shook the sport and torpedoed their time at the top.
Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, start a two-week trial at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following a mammoth investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.
The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.
They are accused of having, to the detriment of FIFA, illegally obtained the payment, plus social security contributions of 229,126 francs, in favour of Platini.