FIFA has been beleaguered over ethical matters for many years. Platini, the president of UEFA, was once considered a sure bet for the presidency of FIFA.
In October 2015 the Frenchman was handed a provisional 90-day suspension, together with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, amid allegations of corruption. Both men have vigorously professed their innocence.
The following text is taken from Philippe Auclair's 'Qatar Hero' in Issue Five of The Blizzard in June 2012, on the murky world of Fifa politics.
"One of Platini's greatest assets must be that, as a recognised great of the game, his views carry far more weight than those of the Swiss former amateur goalkeeper Sepp Blatter.
"To question him is, somehow, to question the near-genius of Juventus and Les Bleus — something like walking into a Greenpeace convention wearing a ‘DOLPHINS ARE BASTARDS’ T-shirt or finding out that the ethereal Isolde you were in love with had an inch-thick dossier at the local VD clinic.
"Platini's own progress has been mapped ever since he retired as a player, 25 years ago, and probably before that. He was due to be anointed Sepp Blatter’s successor by Fifa. Blatter, whom he says “is no angel... a typical politician” but “not corrupt, honest, 200%”; Blatter whom he’ll try “to help finish his mandate well, because it is for the good of the game.”
"He says, he doesn’t know “what I will do in four years.” Can we have a guess, Michel?"
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