Blatter Says Platini Payment Was “Gentlemen’s Agreement”

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has denied approving fraudulent payments to former French player Michel Platini, telling a Swiss court on Thursday that a money transfer followed a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the two.

Swiss prosecutors accuse the two former officials, once among football’s most powerful figures, of illegally arranging the payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million) in 2011. Blatter and Platini deny the allegations.

Blatter testified at Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona after being discharged on health grounds on Wednesday.

The 86-year-old former manager said he asked Platini to be his adviser after the Swiss was first elected FIFA president in 1998.

Platini asked to receive 1 million francs a year, but Blatter told the Frenchman that FIFA could not pay that salary.

Instead, they agreed that Platini, one of the greatest players of his generation, would be paid 300,000 francs a year, with remaining money to be paid later.

“I knew when we started with Michel Platini that it’s not the total, and we would look into that later,” Blatter said, referring to the agreed salary of 300,000 francs for the post of technical consultant.

Sealed with a handshake, Blatter claimed the arrangement was a so-called “gentleman’s agreement”.

“It was an agreement between two sportsmen,” Blatter said. “I didn’t see anything wrong with that.”

Platini signed a written contract with FIFA in 1999, but it only specified a salary of 300,000 francs, with no mention of extra payments.