The trial of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former French player Michel Platini for alleged bribe payments was halted on Wednesday when Blatter said he was too ill to testify.
Swiss prosecutors accuse the two managers, once among football’s most powerful, of illegally arranging a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.08 million) in 2011. Blatter and Platini deny the allegations.
Blatter, looking frail during the Federal Criminal Court hearing in Bellinzona, said he could not speak in court due to chest pains.
“The pain will come back and I’m having trouble breathing,” the 85-year-old former officer told the court in a whisper. The judges allowed him to testify on Thursday (9).
Earlier, lawyers for Blatter and Platini were unable to transfer the judgment to a local court or reject FIFA’s civil lawsuit against Blatter and Platini to recover the 2 million francs.
Three judges will accompany the trial, which runs until June 22. The verdict is due on July 8. If convicted, Platini and Blatter face up to five years in prison.
Both deny wrongdoing and say they had a verbal agreement on the payment, related to Platini’s consulting work between 1998 and 2002.
Source: CNN Brasil
