He was tipped in 2015 to take the lead in world football. But Michel Platini was never able to lead Fifa, the fault of the so-called “alleged unfair payment” affair. The affair broke out in 2015. At the time, the ex-French international was the natural favorite to succeed Blatter, aged and entangled in several scandals. But the Swiss finally dragged “Platoche” in his fall, with this story of payment of 2 million Swiss francs in favor of the French, and “to the detriment of Fifa”.
Finally, the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona did not follow the requisitions of the prosecution, which had requested in mid-June respectively one year and eight months of suspended prison sentence. And the Swiss and the French were both acquitted. “It’s good that the truth explodes after so much manipulation, lies and injustice, claimed the former Saint-Etienne player in the newspaper L’Equipe, this Saturday. I told you I was an honest guy, you had to believe me. »
“We are going to start having fun”
At the end of the trial, Michel Platini had alluded to a political and judicial manipulation intended to remove him from power: “In this case, there are culprits who did not appear during this trial. Let them count on me, we will meet again”. He suspects in particular an occult role of Gianni Infantino, his former right-hand man at UEFA elected in 2016 at the head of Fifa, and targeted since 2020 by a separate procedure for three secret meetings with the former head of the Swiss prosecution.
In The Team, Platini adds a layer: “I won’t let anything pass, it’s not over. In France, I filed a complaint [contre Infantino pour trafic d’influence actif] to find out exactly who manipulated everything, we’re going to start having fun. “Asked to know if he was going to return to the world of football, the former No. 10 of the Blues replied:” I do not know, I am so young (67 years old), I still have more hair than Infantino . I still have many years ahead of me. »