France, March 3 -- Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and French football legend Michel Platini are defending their names in a new court appeal hearing starting Monday in Switzerland.

Blatter, the former head of the world football's governing body FIFA, is anticipating the opportunity to clear his name ofallegations of corrupt payments made to French football legend Michel Platini.

He has proclaimed his innocence and expressed confidence in a positive outcome from the hearing.

FIFA to take legal action to recover 'illegal' €1.83 from Platini

Speaking last week, Blatter described the appeal as "absolute nonsense" and asserted that he is the victim of a witch hunt.

The 88-year-old, who led FIFA from 1998 to 2015, will appear in c...