This archive report was first published on 16 December 2019.
On December 16, 2019, Fifa announced it had filed court claims in Switzerland to recover Sh203 million ($2 million, 1.84 million euros) paid to Michel Platini, its former vice president, during Sepp Blatter's reign.
The payment, authorised by Blatter in 2011, was branded 'disloyal' by Fifa's ethics investigators and led to Platini's six-year ban in 2015.
Platini appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which reduced his suspension to four years but ruled the payment 'unconvinced'.
Fifa has now launched legal proceedings to recover the funds, which it says will be channelled back into football development.
"This follows the unanimous resolution recently adopted by the Fifa Governance Committee," Fifa said in a statement. "If and when successfully recovered, these funds (together with interest) will be fully channelled back into football development, which is where the money should have gone in the first place."
"Even the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has confirmed that this 2 million Swiss franc gift was to be viewed as an 'undue payment'."
