Thread: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges

The transcript of Blazer's statement is due to be released today.

Which may be why the slimey cnut is doing one.

though it is only a red notice - not a warrant for arrest

Interpol has put disgraced FIFA executive members Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz on their most wanted list and issued an international alert.
Four heads of sports marketing companies have also been put on the list. All six are wanted by US authorities investigating more than 135 million euros ($AU193 million) of bribes paid to football officials

the sponsers making all the right noises now
yet not one made a move to cancel before the resignation.

seems like the FBI will investigate the 2018-22 world cup bids.

Would they really stick the boot into Russia.
Or is it too late ?

The Russians are corrupt as they come but they will lay on a good World cup.... as for Qatar, fucke 'em....take it away from them, but not for another year, let them waste more money than they bribed....

Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking

Nick Bryant reports on the admissions by former Fifa executive Chuck Blazer that he and others accepted bribes

'One of sport's most dramatic falls'

Former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer admits that he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host.
The American says he also helped to arrange bribes over the 1998 event.
The admissions come in a newly released transcript from a 2013 US hearing in which he pleads guilty to 10 charges.
The US has launched a wide-ranging criminal case that engulfed Fifa and led President Sepp Blatter to resign.
The US prosecutors last week indicted 14 people on charges of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. Four others had already been charged, including Mr Blazer.
The US justice department alleges they accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
Corrected Fifa graphic - showing 14 men indicted in US

Seven of the 14 were top Fifa officials who were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, as they awaited the Fifa congress. Two were vice-presidents.
'Kickbacks'
The details of Mr Blazer's guilty pleas came as prosecutors unsealed the transcript of the 2013 hearing in the Eastern New York District Court. The admissions are part of a sentencing deal with prosecutors.
Mr Blazer was the second highest official in Fifa's North and Central American and Caribbean region (Concacaf) from 1990 to 2011 and also served on Fifa's executive committee between 1997 and 2013.

In the transcript, prosecutors refer to Fifa "and its membership or constituent organisation" as a RICO enterprise - a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organisation.
Mr Blazer says: "Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup."
Earlier on Wednesday, South Africa denied paying a $10m bribe to secure the hosting of the 2010 event.
Mr Blazer also says: "I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups (the regional championship for national teams)."
Other admissions among the 10 charges in the 40-page dossier include US tax evasion.
Federal agents investigating the tax evasion had detained Mr Blazer and he agreed to co-operate in the US investigations.
He is said to have agreed to record his colleagues using a microphone hidden in a keychain.
The 70-year-old is said to be seriously ill, suffering from colon cancer.
In addition to the US case, Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated.
'Stay strong'
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Blatter was given a 10-minute standing ovation by some 400 staff as he returned to Fifa's Zurich headquarters a day after announcing he was to step down.
Reportedly close to tears, he urged his "fantastic team" to "stay strong".
He emphasised the reform work that Fifa now needed to undertake.
In his resignation speech on Tuesday, he said that although he was re-elected president by the congress last Friday it appeared the mandate he had been given did "not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football".
Sepp Blatter, 29 May

Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking - BBC News

Well Well M. Platini.....

Fifa whistleblower Chuck Blazer: I took bribes over 1998 and 2010 World Cups

Fifa whistleblower Chuck Blazer: I took bribes over 1998 and 2010 World Cups | Football | The Guardian

Will the bribe payers be equally inquired into? Some major world corporations pay GOOD money to advertise at these types of events. How about the Olympics, the Winter Olympics as well as every infants schools summers gala tombola winner?

Blimey! This should be interesting.

Fifa crisis: Jack Warner says he fears for life and will reveal 'avalanche' of secrets | Football

The former Fifa vice president Jack Warner has made an extraordinary television appearance in which he says he fears for his life and claims he will prove a link between soccer’s governing body and the national elections in his native Trinidad and Tobago.

The claims come while Fifa struggles to cope with the ongoing fallout following corruption charges that were issued by US authorities against Warner and 13 other key football figures.

Former Fifa vice-president says he fears for his life and will reveal ‘avalanche’ of secrets

Warner is the subject of an Interpol red notice and was arrested and held in jail overnight in Trinidad last Wednesday, but was later released on bail.

He initially denied any wrongdoing, and said at the time he was “afforded no due process”.

Following his arrest, in a televised broadcast in Trinidad on Thursday, Warner claimed he had documentation that could prove a link between key Fifa officials and the 2010 Trinidad election.

“I will no longer keep secrets for them,” he said.

Warner makes allegations that the documents “also deal with my knowledge of transactions at Fifa, including – but not limited to – its president, Mr Sepp Blatter”.

Jack Warner says he will divulge Sepp Blatter’s financial dealings. Link to video.
Blatter has not yet responded to Warner’s allegations

Warner also apologised for not disclosing his knowledge of the alleged links previously.

“Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming” he said. “The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall.”

Warner is yet to produce any documentation to support his allegations.

He also said in the televised address, which was a paid political advertisement, that “I reasonably actually fear for my life.”

The stunning revelations out of Marabella, Trinidad come just hours after a transcript was made public of former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer’s admission that he and other members of the all-powerful executive committee were bribed in return for voting for South Africa’s bid for the 2010 World Cup.

Chuck Blazer, a 70-year-old soccer chief, first made the admission in testimony to a New York judge in 2013, the details of which had not been publicly available until now, following a petition from three New York-based reporters.


Plea bargain disclosed by US Department of Justice shows Blazer says he and others racketeered, took kickbacks and avoided tax

It revealed how the judge in the case, Raymond Dearie, referred to Fifa as a “racketeering influenced corrupt organisation”, the same terminology used in cases of organised crime, and only allowed the hearing to proceed after the Brooklyn courtroom had been locked.

Entering his plea, Blazer then detailed the long list of events and marketing contracts on which he and others took kickbacks.

“Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups,” he told the judge.

The Department of Justice said last week that Blazer faces a maximum 20 years’ incarceration in a US prison for the conspiracies, 10 for the failure to declare his foreign bank accounts, and five years for the tax evasion charges.

It said Blazer had pleaded guilty to receiving $750,000 from Jack Warner, part of Blazer’s agreed $1m share of the $10m paid to Concacaf by Fifa, after Warner agreed to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup.

The latest claims from Warner come shortly after the resignation of the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, just days after he re-elected for a fifth term to lead the world body.

Fifa crisis: Jack Warner says he fears for life and will reveal 'avalanche' of secrets | Football | The Guardian

You would love to have friends like Warner .

So the investigation of FIFA officials continue, the head of FIFA has gone, what next?

Russia and Qatar to be stripped of the upcoming events? Or the corrupt corporations who paid the bribes and benefited by monopolising the events prosecuted, I wonder which will be announced first.

The plot thickens.

Fifa corruption crisis: FBI inquiry now includes 2014 Brazil World Cup
FBI probes links between Brazil’s football ex-chief Ricardo Teixeira and Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke, as UK MPs told England ready to host in 2022

The FBI’s investigation into Fifa corruption, which has already led to the downfall of president Sepp Blatter, has widened further to include the organisation of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil last summer.

With the FBI examining links between disgraced former Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira and embattled Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke, the investigation now encompasses three of the past five World Cups and the controversial award of the next two tournaments in Russia and Qatar.

In explosive testimony from former Fifa executive committee member Chuck Blazer unsealed by a New York court on Wednesday, he admitted receiving bribes from South Africa related to the hosting of the 2010 World Cup and facilitating the payment of a bribe related to the 1998 tournament from losing bidder Morocco.

The FBI revealed this week that its own investigation had also widened to include the bidding processes for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the controversial choice of Qatar to host the 2022 tournament.

The further revelations came as UK culture secretary John Whittingdale told the House of Commons that England was potentially ready to host the 2022 World Cup in the unlikely event the continental rotation policy was dropped and Qatar stripped of the tournament.

His comments risked playing to the perception in some parts of the world, fuelled by Russian president Vladimir Putin, that the American criminal investigation and English triumphalism at Blatter’s removal are motivated by bitterness at losing their respective World Cup bids.

Teixeira was not among those charged in last week’s damning US Department of Justice indictment, which alleged money laundering, tax evasion and kickbacks on an industrial scale among two generations of Fifa executives.


But the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S Paulo has now reported that the FBI is examining the relationship between Valcke, Blatter’s longstanding secretary general and fixer, and Teixeira, the controversial Brazilian football chief who was head of the Brazil 2014 organising committee until he fled for Miami in 2012. Investigators are thought to be focusing on more than 1,000 documents signed by World Cup organisers in the runup to the tournament.

Valcke was forced to leave his position as marketing director at Fifa in 2006 after being accused of lying by a New York judge in a case brought by Mastercard that cost the governing body €90m (£66m) in compensation.

Before returning seven months later with a promotion to secretary general, Valcke spent the intervening period writing Brazil’s World Cup bid. As the only bidder, the 2014 World Cup was duly awarded to Brazil.

While Teixeira was not among those named in last week’s indictment, his loyal successor Jose Maria Marin was one of seven arrested in a dawn raid on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich. Marco Polo Del Nero, the current head of the Brazilian federation, fled Zurich on the eve of the presidential vote.

Ronaldo and Romario are among the former Brazilian players who have called on Del Nero to quit.

“It’s evident the kind of relationship he (Del Nero) had with Marin,” said Ronaldo, who was an ambassador for the 2014 World Cup organising committe. “Therefore, it would be a good moment for him to resign.”

A contract between a major American sportswear firm, thought to be Nike, and a $150m (£97m) deal with the Brazilian football federation is also under investigation in the US.

Teixeira had previously been accused of accepted $9.5m in bribes from ISL, the defunct marketing company that once held the TV rights to the World Cup, by the BBC’s Panorama on the eve of the 2010 World Cup vote.

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Read more
Teixeira quit after 21 years at Fifa in May 2012, weeks before court documents confirmed that he and Blatter’s predecessor as Fifa president Joao Havelange pocketed 41m Swiss francs (£28m) in payments from ISL over an eight year period.

Teixeira’s path to football’s power-broking was smoothed by Havelange, whose daughter, Lucia, he married and divorced. Havelange was forced to give up his honorary Fifa presidency and his IOC membership.

Earlier this week, Brazilian prosecutors said they were investigating $147m in payments from his bank accounts related to the 2014 World Cup.

Valcke, Blatter’s longtime fixer and most trusted lieutenant, has longstanding links to Teixeira and has previously defended him against corruption allegations.

The Frenchman is already under pressure over a $10m payment from the South African FA that ended up in an account linked to the Trinidadian former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner.

The US indictment alleged the payment, ostensibly for football development among the African diaspora in the Caribbean, was a bribe. The South African FA has denied the claim, insisting the money – paid by Fifa and deducted from money owed to the World Cup organising committee – was paid in good faith.

Valcke, who was revealed in a leaked letter to have known about the arrangement, has said he has nothing to hide.

“I have no reason to say that I shouldn’t remain secretary general regarding what’s happened in the last days, because I have no responsibility,” he told France Info radio.

“I’m beyond reproach and I certainly don’t feel guilty. So I don’t even have to justify that I’m innocent,” he added.

Warner has now warned of an “avalanche” of revelations that will implicate Blatter, who promised to resign on Tuesday just days after being re-elected for a fifth term as president.


Fifa scandal: Jack Warner fears for his life and will reveal 'avalanche' of secrets
Read more
The Trinidadian, one of 14 people charged with accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m over a 24-year period, said he had lodged documents with his lawyers that linked Fifa, its funding and the 2010 election in Trinidad and Tobago.

Warner, who resigned from football in 2011 amid a new wave of bribery allegations, said in a televised address: “I will no longer keep secrets for them who actively seek to destroy the country.”

Four others have already pleaded guilty, including Blazer, who agreed to help federal investigators after being threatened over millions in unpaid taxes.

Meanwhile, Whittingdale told MPs that England could theoretically step in to host the 2022 World Cup if required but said it was “very unlikely” that another European nation would be chosen to follow Russia even if Qatar lost the tournament.

“Obviously if Fifa came forward and asked us to consider hosting it, we have the facilities in this country and of course we did mount a very impressive, if unsuccessful, bid to host the 2018 World Cup,” he said.

Chris Bryant, the shadow culture secretary, suggested that ITV and the BBC should refuse to broadcast the World Cup unless there was a revote. But Whittingdale said that would not be fair on fans.

Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, said she had met with FA chairman Greg Dyke and chief executive Martin Glenn. “They are seizing the initiative to make sure we have those positive conversations. Football needs to help itself. The fact we’ve seen Sepp Blatter go is going to enable others to step forward.”

Fifa corruption crisis: FBI inquiry now includes 2014 Brazil World Cup | Football | The Guardian

The fact we’ve seen Sepp Blatter go is going to enable others to step forward.

We haven't seen Sepp Blatter go though.

He's still there.

Originally Posted by Ozcol

You would love to have friends like Warner .

The videos of the man defy belief, especially when he quotes and holds up a parody article from the Onion thinking it's real. Other than affirmative action, how did anyone that stupid reach the level he did? He's the Clarence Thomas of sports.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The fact we’ve seen Sepp Blatter go is going to enable others to step forward.

We haven't seen Sepp Blatter go though.

He's still there.

Sepp Bladder might need a step ladder

Originally Posted by OhOh

So the investigation of FIFA officials continue, the head of FIFA has gone, what next?

Russia and Qatar to be stripped of the upcoming events? Or the corrupt corporations who paid the bribes and benefited by monopolising the events prosecuted, I wonder which will be announced first.

Too late to move locales for the WC venue?

Plenty of countries with solid infrastructure already in place without the need to build new facilities....

What is truly required is a very sound system of checks and balances.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by OhOh
So the investigation of FIFA officials continue, the head of FIFA has gone, what next?

Go after those responsible for the Olympics?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

We haven't seen Sepp Blatter go though.

He's still there.

Frantically searching and trying to destroy any evidence of his personal involvement in corruption. Enjoy your remaining days Seth. You are going down hard. When all the dominoes fall FIFA as it existed for years will not exist.

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

We haven't seen Sepp Blatter go though.

He's still there.

Frantically searching and trying to destroy any evidence of his personal involvement in corruption. Enjoy your remaining days Seth. You are going down hard. When all the dominoes fall FIFA as it existed for years will not exist.

They raided FIFA HQ at the same time as they were arresting the cronies.

Bit late for that.

Yea. Think they will have all they need to nail Seth.

Hope they get the sponsors as well. They knew damn well FIFA was riddled with corruption.

Originally Posted by Norton

Yea. Think they will have all they need to nail Seth.

Hope they get the sponsors as well. They knew damn well FIFA was riddled with corruption.

Who's Seth?

Prime Minister David Cameron is urging a global crackdown on the "cancer" of corruption in the wake of Fifa bribery allegations.
He will use the G7 summit in Germany to call for an international effort to clean up governments and business.
And he will condemn the international "taboo" on pointing the finger at corrupt institutions.
Fourteen people have been charged by the US over alleged corruption at world football's governing body.
The US justice department alleges that the 14 accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
Breaking taboos
British officials said David Cameron would speak of a "cancer of corruption that poisons and stifles" the progress the G7 hopes to make on development and growth, and that the kind of scrutiny being applied to Fifa should not be restricted to the footballing body.
He is not, however, expected to name organisations and businesses that he would like to see put under the spotlight.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Mr Cameron said the issues surrounding Fifa were an "opportunity to learn a broader lesson about tackling corruption".
He added: "Just as with Fifa, we know the problem is there but there is something of an international taboo over pointing the finger and stirring up concerns.
"At international summits, leaders meet to talk about aid, economic growth and how to keep our people safe.
"But we just don't talk enough about corruption. This has got to change. We have to show some of the same courage that exposed Fifa and break the taboo on talking about corruption."
FIFA President Sepp Blatter gives a press conference at the headquarters of the world football's ruling body in Zurich. World football governing body FIFA announced on May 27, 2011
Sepp Blatter has said he will step down as Fifa president
Balloon depicting G7 leaders
The G7 leaders have also been depicted on giant balloons in Munich
David Cameron
David Cameron has previously called on world leaders to tackle corruption
Cost of corruption
The UK prime minister will join US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Italian PM Matteo Renzi, Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe for the two-day G7 summit, hosted at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Mrs Merkel has put climate change and sustainable development at the top of the agenda for the annual summit of the world's leading industrialised economies, which gets under way on Sunday.
The talks will also focus on growth, security and the threat from terrorism and disease epidemics.
But Mr Cameron will argue that the issue of corruption has a bearing on all these areas and must be discussed openly as part of the talks.
He will cite World Bank estimates that corruption adds 10% to business costs worldwide, with the equivalent of one trillion US dollars (£650bn) paid in bribes every year.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes corruption costs about 5% of global GDP annually, while in developing countries it can add 25% to the cost of procurement, Mr Cameron will say.
Seven of the 10 countries considered to be the most corrupt in sub-Saharan Africa are also in the bottom 10 on the human development index and infant mortality is twice as high in countries with the most corruption as in those with the least.
G7 protesters
Protesters have been wearing masks at marches in Munich, depicting the G7 world leaders
G7 protesters in Munich
The Munich protest took place ahead of the G7 meeting in nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen
German police
The protest marches have been marshalled by German police officers
UN development
Mr Cameron will say that there is an onus on world leaders to do what they can to tackle the issue.
He will call for action in the coming months to focus the efforts of the various international organisations tasked with combating corruption to ensure that they are working effectively with one another.
Anti-corruption measures should be at the heart of the new United Nations development goals for the coming 15 years, due to be agreed in September, he will say.
Mr Cameron has spoken about the theme of corruption before, writing an article on it ahead of last year's G7.
"Because of the events of Fifa, which have sent shockwaves around the world, that could perhaps make a difference and get this moving forward," BBC political correspondent Alan Soady said.
Diane Sheard is UK director of the One Campaign, which campaigns for an end to poverty and preventable disease.
She said corruption within Fifa should be a wake-up call for G7 leaders.
"Transparency is the only reliable vaccine against the disease of illicit finance, money-laundering and secret payments," she said.

David Cameron: Fifa scandal must prompt corruption purge - BBC News

Cameron should listen to what Transparency international has to say.

In 2011 Transparency International UK (TI-UK) launched the major findings from a series of studies which examine corruption in the UK. The reports – which represent the most comprehensive research ever undertaken in this area – examine the levels of corruption in 23 UK sectors and institutions.

The research represents a ‘corruption health-check’ for the UK. Although corruption is not endemic in the UK, it is correct to say that in some areas of UK society and institutions, corruption is a much greater problem than recognised and that there is an inadequate response to its growing threat. The report found that the growing threat of corruption is often met with complacency, and that key institutions are refusing to confront the problem.

Of particular concern are prisons, political parties, parliament and sport – where the response to the increasing corruption risk is often incoherent and uncoordinated.

http://www.transparency.org.uk/our-work/uk-corruption

AFP
June 15, 2015

Paris (AFP) - The head of FIFA's audit and compliance unit said on Sunday that changes at the top of world football's governing body were "indispensable" following reports Sepp Blatter might go back on his decision to resign.

"For me, the reforms are the central topic," wrote Domenico Scala in a statement. "That is why I think it is clearly indispensable to follow through with the initiated process of president's change as it has been announced."

Scala's statement came after Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag cited an anonymous source close to Blatter as saying he had not ruled out the prospect of going back on his decision to resign after receiving messages of support from Asian and African federations.

When contacted by AFP, FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stuck to their official positions, that Blatter had announced his resignation on June 2 and that the CAF had taken due note.

On Thursday, the European Parliament called on Blatter to step down immediately and allow for an interim leader to launch reforms in the organisation. But FIFA have repeated that the 79-year-old Swiss will continue in office until a successor is designated, probably by the end of the year.

An extraordinary meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee will take place in Zurich on July 20, when a date will be fixed for the congress at which Blatter's successor will be elected. It is likely to take place between December this year and March 2016, according to the audit unit that supervises the electoral procedure.

Blatter was reelected late last month in Zurich for a fifth term as president, only three days after 14 FIFA officials and partners were charged as part of a corruption investigation led by US authorities. But four days after that he announced his resignation.

According to Swiss media, Blatter has been in a relaxed mood despite the scandal which has engulfed the body he has headed since 1998. One report claimed that he is even pondering hiring top lawyer Lorenz Erni, who was the man who helped film director Roman Polanski avoid extradition to the United States in 2009/2010.

In another twist late Sunday, the BBC quoted a "source close to Blatter" as saying the Swiss could make a bid to stay on if no suitable alternative candidate emerges. "Everything is open", said the source who added that Blatter will hold meetings over the coming days to gauge whether or not he still retains enough support.

full article: FIFA official urges Blatter not to go back on quit promise

Gosh, who would have imagined Blatter would try and pull a Weinstein?

BELLINZONA, Switzerland, June 8 (Reuters) - The trial of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and French footballing legend Michel Platini over alleged corrupt payments ground to a halt on Wednesday when Blatter said he was too ill to testify.
Swiss prosecutors accuse the pair, once among football's most powerful figures, of unlawfully arranging a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.08 million) in 2011. Blatter and Platini both deny the charges.

But Blatter, looking frail during the hearing at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, said he was unable to address the court due to chest pains.
"The pain will come back and I am having difficulty breathing," the 86-year-old told, the court in a whisper.
The judges told Blatter the trial, which is due to last two weeks, was running on a tight schedule but eventually allowed him to make his testimony on Thursday.

The senior judge, Joséphine Contu Albrizio, wished Blatter a good recovery.
Earlier, lawyers for Blatter and Platini failed to shift the trial to a local court or dismiss FIFA's civil claim against Blatter and Platter to reclaim the two million francs.
"This case is being heard in the wrong stadium," Platini’s lawyer Dominic Nellen told the court, saying federal prosecutions should be reserved for large, international cases.

The judges dismissed the argument, and allowed FIFA to remain involved.
"It is obvious that FIFA has been damaged," said its lawyer Catherine Hohl-Chirazi. "Two million francs was stolen."
Three judges will hear the trial, which runs until June 22. A verdict is due on July 8. If convicted, Platini and Blatter face up to five years in jail.
Both have denied wrongdoing and say they had a verbal agreement over the payment, which related to consultancy work by Platini between 1998 and 2002.
Blatter, once the most powerful figure in global football, arrived at the court walking with a stoop and holding the arm of his daughter Corinne.
Before the hearing, he said he was positive and in a good mood.
"I know I have not done anything against the law. My life was football, for 45 years with FIFA," he told journalists outside the court.
Platini, a former UEFA President, also said he was confident, and joked he would have to improve his German so he could follow the proceedings.
"I am convinced that justice will be fully and definitively done to me after so many years of wild accusations and slander," he said in statement before the hearing.
"We will prove in court that I acted with the utmost honesty, that the payment of the remaining salary was due to me by FIFA and is perfectly legal," he added.
The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has accused Blatter and Platini of "fraud, in the alternative of misappropriation, in the further alternative of criminal mismanagement as well as of forgery of a document".
Platini, who as a player captained France to victory in the 1984 European Championship, was also charged as an accomplice.
Blatter and Platini, 66, were both banned in 2016 from soccer for six years over the payment, made with Blatter's approval for work done a decade earlier. L5N2XH0DW

Ex-soccer chief Blatter too ill to testify at his fraud trial | Reuters