Embattled FIFA chief Sepp Blatter is suspected of 'disloyal payment' to UEFA Head Michel Platini, who had hoped to succeed him, the office of Switzerland's attorney general said.
"Mr. Joseph Blatter is suspected of a disloyal payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.05 million dollars, or 1.8 million Euros) to Michel Platini, President of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA," it said in a statement, adding that the payment had been executed in February 2011, and had allegedly been made "for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002."
Platini defended the payment he received in 2011, made three months before the Frenchman announced he would not challenge Blatter for re-election during that year's race for the FIFA presidency.
"Concerning the payment that was made to me, I wish to state that this amount relates to work which I carried out under a contract with FIFA," said the UEFA boss. But he offered no explanation as to why the payment had arrived almost a decade after the work had been completed.
Since some months ago, FIFA has been hit by scandals of corruption and had several officials indicted.
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PL-29/ MNA
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