Sepp Blatter Says FIFA Has Dropped Corruption Charges

Sepp Blatter Says FIFA Has Dropped charges

Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter claims a judge has dropped corruption charges regarding a $2 million payment the organisation made to UEFA President Michel Platini.

The Swiss made the claims in an interview with Blick on Sunday (h/t Agence France-Presse via Yahoo Sports), saying the judge told him so at the start of an eight-hour hearing: "The judge told me at the start 'the corruption charges have been withdrawn.'"

The corruption charges aren't the only ones brought against Blatter, Platini and FIFA, but they have received the most attention so far. ESPN FC has detailed accounts of all of the incidents and accusations dogging the organisation.

As reported by BBC 5 Live's Richard Conway, FIFA's ethics committee will announce its verdict on the case Monday:

If Blatter and Platini are found guilty, they could be banned from football for life.

Blatter has been president of FIFA since 1998 and was elected to a fifth term earlier this year. Soon after, the first charges came to light, and the FBI and Swiss authorities made a number of arrests in May, per the Guardian's Owen Gibson and Damien Gayle.

FIFA are being accused of corruption and bribery, with investigators particularly keen on finding out if foul play took place when the organisation handed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively