Former UEFA President Michel Platini spent six hours in front of a Swiss prosecutor ©Getty Images

Former UEFA President Michel Platini spent six hours in front of a Swiss prosecutor as a suspect in a corruption case before testifying as a witness in an investigation against FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.

The two separate hearings were held in the space of a few days as Platini faced questions in Switzerland last week.

Platini was interrogated at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland centring on a $2 million (£1.62 million/€1.78 million) payment he received from FIFA in 2011.

It is part of a wider corruption case against former FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Platini is suspected of being an accomplice to criminal mismanagement, of misappropriation and forgery, but has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

FIFA banned the Frenchman from all football-related activities for eight years before the suspension was reduced to four by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Platini’s ban expired in October 2019, but the investigation was revived when prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand took charge.

Following Platini’s hearing last week, the Frenchman’s "entourage" told AFP: "Michel Platini was attentive to the presentation of the elements of the case and to the interpretations presented by the prosecutor Hildbrand.

"He remains very confident that this procedure will allow him to prove his integrity in this case."

Michel Platini attends a hearing at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ©Getty Images
Michel Platini attends a hearing at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland ©Getty Images

It has also been reported that the prosecution said it was Platini’s "final hearing" before the end of the investigation.

Platini had been due to face Swiss prosecutors again a day later only to be told he did not need to be heard again.

According to reports, Platini is expected to be either exonerated or face trial.

Blatter, who is serving a six-year ban from football, is due to face the prosecutor but is understood to be still recovering after undergoing heart surgery last December.

Both Platini and Switzerland's Blatter had claimed the CHF2 million payment between the pair was made because of a verbal agreement for work the Frenchman carried out between 1998 and 2002.

FIFA's Ethics Committee dismissed this argument and said it was a "gift" or "undue payment", and this ruling was upheld by CAS.

Platini was summoned to give witness evidence in an investigation against FIFA President Gianni Infantino ©Getty Images
Platini was summoned to give witness evidence in an investigation against FIFA President Gianni Infantino ©Getty Images

Platini was due to appear as a witness in a Swiss investigation into Infantino's conduct in Sarnen on March 17.

Criminal proceedings were opened in July last year against Infantino in Switzerland over dealings between the FIFA President and Michael Lauber, a former Swiss Attorney General.

The case centres on undocumented meetings that Lauber and Infantino are alleged to have held in 2016 and 2017.

Infantino has insisted his innocence, claiming the meetings "were in no way secret and most certainly not illegal".

Earlier this month, The Swiss Federal Criminal Court ruled in favour of one of four complaints made by the legal team of Infantino.

Federal special prosecutor Stefan Keller was ruled to be outside of his "competence" when questioning an individual close to Infantino over the President's use of a private jet from Suriname to Switzerland.

The court ruled that the transcript of questioning of the individual be removed from the files.