The former head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, along with the renowned French soccer star Michel Platini, have been cleared of all corruption allegations by a Swiss court for a second time on Tuesday.

The duo — formerly two of the most prominent personalities in soccer — were acquitted by the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court of accusations including fraud, forgery, mismanagement, and embezzlement of approximately €2.1 million from FIFA funds back in 2011.

The Swiss attorney general's office contested Blatter's initial acquittal, along with that of Platini, both aged 89 and 69 respectively, back in July 2022. They requested sentencing them to 20 months in prison, which would be suspended for two years.

Following two not-guilty verdicts, even the Swiss Office of the Attorney General has to acknowledge that these criminal proceedings have ultimately proven unsuccessful,” stated Dominic Nellen, Michel Platini’s attorney. “Michel Platini should at last be allowed to proceed without further disturbance in legal matters.”

Blatter and Platini have repeatedly asserted before five distinct legal entities—twice within FIFA, subsequently the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and currently two Swiss federal criminal courts—that they had an oral “gentlemen’s agreement” to eventually resolve the matter concerning the funds involved.

Prosecutors have the option to file an additional appeal with the Swiss Supreme Court.

In February 2011, Blatter sanctioned FIFA to disburse 2 million Swiss francs (approximately €2.1 million now) to Platini as compensation for his role as a presidential adviser from 1998 to 2002, which was outside of his regular contract. According to the Frenchman, this sum represented part of an overdue payment since FIFA hadn’t managed to settle the dues earlier.

The specifics of the payment came to light during the scandal that enveloped FIFA in May 2015, when U.S. federal authorities unveiled an extensive probe into soccer officials worldwide.

Early morning raids took place at hotels in Zurich as Swiss authorities arrested individuals and seized financial and operational documents related to FIFA.

Prior to the scandal coming to light, Platini led UEFA, the governing body for European football, and was among the top contenders to take over from Blatter as FIFA’s president. However, both individuals haven’t been involved in football since their suspension by the FIFA ethics committee in October 2015.

Platini's suspension ended in 2019, and Blatter received an additional ban from FIFA in 2021, just before his initial punishment was set to conclude.

Due to an ethics investigation into allegedly improper payments of multimillion-dollar bonuses for organizing the men's World Cups in 2010 and 2014, Blatter has been banned from football until sometime after late 2028, when he will turn 92 years old.