Platini’s lawyer believes that the trial against the former UEFA president is “the result of a conspiracy”

PARIS, June 7 (dpa/EP) –

Dominic Nellen, Michel Platini’s lawyer, declared that the trial that will begin this Wednesday against the former UEFA president is “the result of a conspiracy” and that it is “politically motivated”, with the sole intention of “preventing him from being president of the Fifa”.

The lawyer explained in statements to the dpa that the case “in detail the judicial process against Platini is politically motivated with the intention of preventing him from becoming president of FIFA.”

“We are confident that the trial will lead to a positive outcome, which would demonstrate Michael Platini’s complete sincerity on this matter. The true intent of this story was to eliminate him as a possible FIFA president,” Nellen said.

Platini’s defense maintains that the trial is “the result of a conspiracy” that wanted to separate the French from being the successor of Joseph Blatter at the head of FIFA. Both are accused of defrauding the organization itself over payments of two million Swiss francs that Platini received for his work as a FIFA adviser between 1998 and 2002.

The trial, which will begin next Wednesday, will be held in Bellinzona (Switzerland). The case was uncovered in 2015, when Platini was in full campaign to succeed Blatter in office, and brought with it an eight-year suspension away from football by the FIFA Ethics Committee, which was later reduced by the Court of Justice. Sports Arbitration (TAS).

The sentence is expected to arrive in July, although if the defendants are found guilty they could still file an appeal.