Blatter, Platini face 20-month suspended jail sentences

BELLINZONA, Switzerland, June 15 (AP): Prosecutors in the fraud trial of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and vice president Michel Platini asked Wednesday for both men to get 20-month suspended prison sentences.

Blatter and Platini, a former France national team captain who was president of European governing body UEFA, faced sentences of up to five years for financial wrongdoing but actual jail time was considered to be unlikely ahead of their 11-day trial. Verdicts are expected on July 8.

Prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand also asked the three judges at Switzerland's federal criminal court for Platini to pay FIFA more than 2.2 million Swiss francs ($2.2 million) in compensation.

Blatter and Platini deny fraud and lesser charges relating to a FIFA-approved $2 million payment to the France great in 2011. At the time, Platini was UEFA president, a FIFA vice president and was expected to succeed Blatter, likely in 2015.

Platini said in a statement published after the court session that he was "serene and confident."

"The indictment of the prosecutor today is devoid of any basis," Platini said. "The debates of the trial proved that this criminal procedure had no reason to exist."

The prosecution argued there was no legal or contractual basis for FIFA to pay Platini's invoice for working as a presidential adviser in Blatter's first term between 1998 and 2002. FIFA also paid $229,000 of social security taxes in Zurich.

Both have long denied wrongdoing and claim they had a verbal deal in 1998 for Platini to get extra salary that FIFA could not pay at the time.