Prosecutors in the fraud trial of former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and vice president Michel Platini asked for both to get 20-month suspended prison sentences on Wednesday.
Blatter and Platini, the former France captain who was president of European governing body Uefa, faced sentences of up to five years for financial wrongdoing but actual jail time was considered to be unlikely ahead of their 11-day trial. Verdicts are expected on July 8.
The 86-year-old Blatter's legal jeopardy increased on Wednesday when prosecutors in Zurich confirmed they had opened criminal proceedings against him in a separate complaint filed by football's world body in 2020.
Blatter and his longtime right-hand man, former Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, are now formal suspects in an investigation of alleged mismanagement relating to the Fifa World Football Museum project in central Zurich. The new details were first reported by a Swiss financial news website.
Earlier on Wednesday at the Swiss federal criminal court in Bellinzona, prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand also asked the three judges for Platini to pay Fifa more than 2.2 million Swiss francs ($2.2 million) in compensation.
Blatter and Platini deny fraud and lesser charges relating to a Fifa-approved $2m payment to the France great in 2011. At the time, Platini was Uefa president, a Fifa vice president and was expected to succeed Blatter.
Platini said in a statement published after the court session that he was “serene and confident”.
“The indictment of the prosecutor today is devoid of any basis,” Platini said. “The debates of the trial proved that this criminal procedure had no reason to exist.”
The prosecution argued there was no legal or contractual basis for Fifa to pay Platini’s invoice for working as a presidential adviser in Blatter’s first term between 1998 and 2002. Fifa also paid $229,000 of social security taxes in Zurich.
Both have long denied wrongdoing and claim they had a verbal deal in 1998 for Platini to get extra salary that Fifa could not pay at the time. Platini signed a contract in August 1999 to be paid 300,000 Swiss francs ($300,000) annually.
Their defence previously failed at the Fifa ethics committee, which banned them from football and removed them from office, the Fifa appeals committee, and later in separate appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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Sand storm
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Dust storm
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FIXTURES
UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2nd row
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
3rd row
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)
4th row
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)
5th row
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)
6th row
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)
7th row
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
8th row
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
9th row
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)
10th row
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
