A Swiss court acquitted Sepp Blatter andMichel Platini of corruption on Friday, the latest development in a scandal that has engulfed soccer.
The two men were acquitted by a Swiss court.
The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland cleared the two men of any wrongdoing over a $2 million payment they made to one another.
It was expected that the head of the sport's European governing body would succeed him.
Prosecutors accused the pair of illegally arranging the payment, which they said followed a " gentleman's agreement" to compensate the Frenchman for his services during the first term of the organization's presidency.
Both maintained their innocence but the timing of the payment raised questions over possible motives.
On June 22 the trial ended.
Following a larger U.S. Department of Justice investigation, the payment came to light. The investigation exposed deep seated corruption at the organization, which was accused of awarding the right to host the 2022. The executives and officials were indicted. The ethics committee of the sport's governing body banned both of them from soccer related activities for eight years.
Key questions were answered.
They face fraud charges in the investigation.
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