The sum involved was paid by Blatter in January 2011 to Platini as a loyalty bonus, although a subsequent investigation established that there was no valid justification for such a transfer, which, therefore, should be considered as a gift.
In December 2015, both men were banned from football for eight years over the payment, although that was subsequently reduced on appeal to six years in the case of Blatter, and four years for Platini.
According to the testimony of the two men, the payment related to Platinis time working for FIFA, which came to an end in 2002, and was verbally agreed, and did not fall within the scope of any written agreement. FIFAs Ethics Committee subsequently rejected that explanation, citing that there was no contractual basis for the transfer, and that it was illegal in nature.
And now the organisations governance committee, which is chaired by a retired Indian high court judge, Mukul Mudgal, has recommended that FIFA should seek legal redress to reclaim the money as a priority, because under Swiss law to which FIFA is subject any claim for the return of the money expires at the end of the current month. In addition, they are demanding that interest should be added to the payment, and additional fines and costs levied on the two men.
Blatter and Platini have always maintained their innocence and appealed their bans from the sport to CAS (the Court for Arbitration for Sport). However, they upheld the verdict that the CHF 2 million was not valid contractually, and were not convinced about the justifications provided by Platini for the payment.
The Frenchman himself is considering taking legal action relating to his ban, and has not ruled out taking his case to the court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Blatter led FIFA for 17 years until his reign was ended by a corruption scandal, with the US government indicting current and former officials, and sports marketing companies, with money laundering, bribery, and a number of other offences.