Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and vice-president Michel Platini have both been acquitted of their fraud charges following their trial in Switzerland.
The pair were on trial over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs (£1.6m) made by Blatter to Platini in 2011. At the time of the payment, Platini was the president of Uefa and a vice-president at Fifa and was expected to replace Blatter as the president of the world football governing body.
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Blatter and Platini denied any wrongdoing, with the former saying that the payment was for Platini’s services as a consultant during his first term as president between 1998-2002. However, the transaction that was authorised in January 2011 ended both their careers in football. They were both banned from football in 2015 when the corruption scandal first came to light and they were indicted last November.
Following a case that was opened in 2015, their 11-day trial over the 2011 payment took place at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona and concluded on 22 June.
"I wanted to express my happiness for all my loved ones that justice has finally been done after seven years of lies and manipulation," said Platini.
"The truth has come to light during this trial and I deeply thank the judges of the tribunal for the independence of their decision.
"I kept saying it - my fight is a fight against injustice. I won a first game.
"In this case, there are culprits who did not appear during this trial. Let them count on me, we will meet again because I will not give up and I will go all the way in my quest for truth."
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