A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling said that former FIFA President Sepp Blatter was "reckless" when he paid $2M to former UEFA President Michel Platini "in a transaction that led both to be banned from world football," according to the AP. Blatter also "bypassed" the body's exec committee to extend Platini's pension plan by four years -- "unlawfully adding" more than $1M to Platini's retirement fund. Details of the hearing in August were revealed in a newly-published, 68-page verdict written by CAS judges to explain "why they dismissed Blatter's appeal to overturn a six-year ban in December." The full judgment "confirms details never published by the FIFA ethics and appeals committees," which "previously judged Blatter, the long-time president, and Platini, his expected successor." Three separate judging panels agreed "there was no verbal agreement or valid contract for Platini to receive backdated salary" in '11 for working as Blatter's presidential adviser from '98-02. The football officials said that they agreed Platini should get 1M Swiss francs annually, but later signed a contract for 300,000 Swiss francs "to ensure he did not earn more than FIFA's then secretary general" (AP, 3/13).
