Former FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and his ex-UEFA counterpart Michel Platini have been charged with fraud in Switzerland.
It follows a six-year investigation into a payment of two million Swiss francs from FIFA to Platini.
Blatter, 85, and French football legend Platini, 65, could now face a trial at federal criminal court in Bellinzona within months.
“This payment damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,” Swiss federal prosecutors said in a statement.
In January 2011, Platini wrote to FIFA asking to be paid backdated additional salary for working as a presidential adviser in Blatter’s first term from 1998 to 2002.
Blatter authorised FIFA to make the payment within weeks. He and Platini have consistantly denied wrongdoing and said they had verbally agreed for the money to be paid more than 20 years ago.
In addition to being charged with fraud, Blatter has been charged with mismanagement, misappropriation of FIFA funds and forgery of a document.
Platini has been charged with fraud, misappropriation, forgery and as an accomplice to Blatter’s alleged mismanagement.
In 2015, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were banned from football for eight years by Fifa.
They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
The Fifa ethics committee found Blatter and Platini had demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
“I will fight for me and for Fifa,” Blatter said at a news conference.
Platini said the decision was a “masquerade” intended to “dirty” his name.
Both men continue to deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Swiss Blatter and Platini were also fined £33,700 ($50,000) and £54,000 ($80,000) respectively.
Despite the ban, both Blatter and Platini learned that they could still be allowed to attend matches – including Euro 2016 in France – if they buy tickets in a private capacity.
Fifa boss since 1998, Blatter had already announced he was quitting with a presidential election in February.
Platini was tipped as a future leader of football’s world governing body and is a three-time European Footballer of the Year.
He is also a former captain of France and has been in charge of Uefa – European football’s governing body – since 2007.
Fifa ethics statement – key points
– The payment made in February 2011 had “no legal basis” in the contract signed by both men when Platini started working for Blatter on 25 August, 1999.
– Both men’s explanation that there was an “oral agreement” over the payment was rejected as “not convincing”.
– Blatter’s actions did not show “commitment to an ethical attitude”, and both men were found to be in “a conflict of interest”.
– Platini also failed to act with “complete credibility and integrity” and showed “unawareness of the importance of his duties”.
– The committee said there was “not sufficient evidence” to establish the payment was a bribe, but both men demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
Blatter was in defiant mood at a news conference he had called in advance of the punishments being made public.
“I will fight,” he said back then. “I will fight for me and for Fifa.”
He added taht he was “really sorry” that he is still “a punching ball” and that he has become tainted in the eyes of humanity.
He thought he had convinced the Fifa ethics tribunal that the payment from Fifa to Platini was legitimate.
He planned to appeal, first to Fifa, then Cas. He also considered taking legal action under Swiss law if needed.
“The decision is no surprise to me,” Platini said in a statement. “The procedure initiated against me by Fifa’s ethics committee is a pure masquerade.
“It has been rigged to tarnish my name by bodies I know well and who for me are bereft of all credibility or legitimacy.”
Uefa issued a statement, revealing it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
It added: “Once again, Uefa supports Michel Platini’s right to a due process and the opportunity to clear his name.”
Former Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan added: “This is very harsh, especially for Blatter because he dedicated his life to football and Fifa. Eight years is like a death sentence.”
Isha Johansen, the president of Sierra Leone’s Football Association, said: “I’m not saying Blatter was a saint, but the way everything has been piled on his head to make it look like it was all his fault… I think it’s most unfair.”
French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet added: “Michel Platini’s suspension is shocking and saddens me. It seems unbelievable.
“But it does not surprise me as the ethics commission president had already announced that Michel would be suspended for several years. Michel’s guilt was decided in advance.”
Football Association chairman Greg Dyke and Fifa reform campaigner Damian Collins believe it is the end for Blatter and Platini.
Dyke told BBC Radio 5 live he had “no sympathy” for Blatter but that the FA “didn’t know about Platini” and “were clearly disappointed”.
“We thought he had done a very good job as president of Uefa,” he added.
British MP Collins said: “The fish rots from the head down and we know how rotten the head of Fifa was.”
Former FA chairman David Bernstein told BBC Radio 5 live Blatter was “a drowning man really, there’s no coming back from this”.
“He’ll fight, I’m sure of that. He’s not a soft touch. He will fight but he is doomed. He is yesterday’s man.”
Fast forward to today and Twitter users have reacted on former FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini getting charged with fraud…
— Miggy’s Geordie Mammy (@nicola_cookson) November 2, 2021
I want my money back pic.twitter.com/M2opyOsyjs
— Simon Brodkin 🚌🎤 (@SimonBrodkin) November 2, 2021
@macca_robert93: I’m so shocked
@SusanParkinso19: Football is bent it’s all about money now… The people’s game has become the play thing of the rich!
@LUFCFilmGeek91: This is for those who don’t believe corruption was, and in some cases still, riddled with corruption in the Game! Football needed a massive overhaul and still has a way to go yet.
@mkeddie1502: good riddance, corrupt from head to toe
@CUSSLEWIS: Not really a surprise is it…
@TigerEasyX: After so many years can it finally true, they are going to be made to pay for stealing football.
@THFCdaniel_: How the fek has it taken this long to be done for corruption 😭😭😭
@jbonn23: And won’t spend a day behind bars
@AL2Spireite: Really???… I mean really??? What a shock…
@Paul__Craven: What took so long? They should have both been in jail years ago.
@FerridayPaul: Tip of the iceberg!! Bent bastards
@andyl86: There for all to see, as is the premier league. Corrupt as fook!
@cranjit: Oh my God !!! What a fall for these two
@matthassall14: Find me one person shocked by this
@vivwill1: About time too
@TomCheema: I am shocked…shocked, I tell you.
@cjpartsuk: I would like to see the pair of them together in a prison cell.
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