It’s a witch hunt, says Blatter ahead of return to court over Platini payment
ZURICH: Sepp Blatter, the disgraced former FIFA president, has complained that he is the victim of a witch hunt as he prepares to return to a Swiss court yet again next week in the latest stage of historic payments scandal.
Blatter, now 88, aired his anger and frustration in an interview with the Reuters agency. He is heading back to court – alongside former UEFA president Michel Platini because a not guilty in their original trial has become the subject of an appeal by Swiss prosecutors.
Both were cleared in 2022 after a seven-year investigation into a long-delayed FIFA payment to Platini, authorised by Blatter, of two million Swiss francs.
Blatter said: “The Federal Criminal Court in 2022 said the contract between Platini and me was correct, and I expect the new court will confirm this first decision. It’s a witch hunt against me, it feels like a vendetta. I am completely confident I will be cleared, I am an honest man.
“The payment was made based on a contract and the first court agreed. It was correctly implemented and there was no bribery in any way.”
The investigation prompted FIFA to suspend Blatter and Platini in 2015, creating a presidential vacancy on which Gianni Infantino – former general secretary of Europe’s UEFA – capitalised to seize power himself.
England fan
On other issues Blatter suggested that England should have won a repeat World Cup hosting before Saudi Arabia was awarded its first in 2034.
Blatter said: “England has done a great job for the game of football and they should be rewarded. They have tried since 1966 to get the World Cup back and it’s a shame they didn’t get it.
“They should have had it before Saudi Arabia, but it was organised in a very clever way so nobody was in opposition.”
Blatter repeated his long-held opposition to an expansion of the World Cup in 2026 to 48 teams. He said: “It’s become too big. Will it become like in grand slam tennis where everybody goes to the World Cup? What next – 128 teams?
“I’ve always said there are too many teams and the quality is not the same. Those who lose out are the spectators. As long as football has two billion followers, then FIFA thinks they are happy. But one day there will be a stop – you cannot go and develop more football, and more players and have more money and more spectators and more stadiums.”
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