Picture: Keystone
After the federal prosecutor announced on Saturday that it wanted to end one of the two preliminary proceedings against former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the 84-year-old fired sharply against his critics in an interview with the “Walliser messenger” and spoke of a “staged game”.
As the federal prosecutor announced on Saturday to the Keystone-SDA news agency, it intends to end one of the two proceedings against Sepp Blatter. This is an investigation into television rights from the 2010 and 2014 World Cups that were sold at market value to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). A pending Blatters payment to Michel Platini in 2011 in the amount of CHF 2 million is still pending.
“The fact that the first of the two procedures has only been dealt with after five years and the second has not yet been completed is something that is incomprehensible and inexplicable,” said Blatter after the decision in an interview with the “Walliser messenger”.
«It was a staged game»
It is clear to him that current FIFA President Gianni Infantino had his hands in the game and accuses the 50-year-old of deliberately sabotaging his reputation. “Sure, it was a staged game,” Blatter says.
«The payment to Platini for services rendered has been approved by the FIFA bodies. So a trial against me is not logical. The report of the supervisory authority to the federal prosecutor’s office contained blackened names that have now been exposed, »says Blatter and accuses Infantino of manipulating the election in this way. «It has been proven that Gianni Infantino’s friend Rinaldo Arnold met with Federal Attorney Michale Lauber. The names Platini and Blatter already appeared in the report. Arnold obviously wanted to find out if something was going to happen to the people who might be standing in the way of Infantino’s election as FIFA President. »
In fact, such non-logged meetings also took place, after which Lauber had to withdraw from some FIFA proceedings. Both Platini and Blatter were suspended from FIFA, prompting Infantino to be elected new president.
The US judiciary also accuses the federal prosecutor of delaying the proceedings
Blatter is particularly upset about the duration of the two procedures. “An open criminal case by the federal prosecutor prevented me a lot. I was suspended as FIFA President. Why were the proceedings against me not dealt with before Gianni Infantino’s re-election in 2019? »Asks the 84-year-old, who was questioned in 2015 and then had heard nothing from the prosecutor for three and a half years. “I’ve never really been able to defend myself, and there was no questioning.”
The US judiciary, which has already sentenced 28 defendants in connection with the FIFA affair since 2015, also accuses the Swiss prosecutor of delaying and postponing its own proceedings. Blatter himself sees no reason why it should take a long time: «There is no longer any reason to delay this (decision). The intended plot against me has already been carried out anyway. » If the second lawsuit against Blatter is also terminated, the former president of the World Association wants to request rehabilitation from FIFA.
There was only one attempt at bribery, says Blatter. «When a representative of the association said goodbye, he came to me with the wish that the referee for the last upcoming QM qualifier should be replaced and that he should be chosen. He put an envelope in my coat for $ 50,000. I uncovered the case, proving that I am not corrupt. The money was deposited by our accountant in a bank account with the reference that the patron could withdraw it. Which he did shortly afterwards. »
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