The very long investigation into the suspicious payment to Michel Platini on the orders of Sepp Blatter is coming to an end.

The former all-powerful FIFA president will meet with a Swiss prosecutor on Monday around 9 a.m. in Zurich, for what could be the final hearing in this case.

This hearing will only last 90 minutes.

The state of health of the Swiss, 85 years old and hospitalized last December and January to undergo a major heart operation, does not allow to go beyond.

A second hearing could possibly take place the next day, in the same format, said his spokesperson.

Platini had been heard for the last time in mid-March.

He is now awaiting the decision of the public prosecutor's office, which could either pronounce a dismissal or pave the way for a trial before the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona.

An investigation opened in 2015

This file, which put the former boss of world football and Platini out of their sport, concerns the payment by FIFA of 2 million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) to the French triple golden ball. early 2011, without written justification. This Monday is the last step before the closure of this investigation opened in 2015 against the two men, prosecuted for "unfair management", "breach of trust", "swindle" and "false titles".

Blatter and Platini hammer relentlessly that this is a balance of payment for an advisory job carried out by the French in 1999-2002. According to the two men, the agreement between them dates back to the spring of 1998: Sepp Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975 as director of development but lacked sporting legitimacy, was then seeking the support of the ex-champion to take the head of the instance. But FIFA, led since 2016 by Gianni Infantino, for its part deplores the absence of a written contract mentioning at the time such remuneration, and demands reimbursement from Platini.

Asked about the meeting on Monday, the prosecution simply recalled that according to the Penal Code "in important and complex procedures, the accused persons are heard one last time before the end of the investigation and invited to speak on the results thereof ”.

Blatter, who led world football from 1998 to 2015, says "looking forward and optimistically to this final hearing, with the hope that this story will end soon."

But the prosecution explains for the moment that it is not yet able to give a timetable for the continuation of this case.

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