Platini hits back over FIFA payment row

UEFA chief Michel Platini on Monday admitted he had no
written contract for a $2.0 million payment from FIFA
president Sepp Blatter as his chances of replacing the Swiss
veteran as head of the world body nosedived ahead of a key
FIFA council meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

In his first interview since being handed a 90-
day suspension from all football-related
activities by FIFA, the former star player for
France and Juventus told Le Monde that,
although he had nothing in writing, he had made
a “man to man” agreement with Blatter over the
contested remuneration.

Platini added that, as he understood it, under
Swiss law “an oral contract is worth a written
contract”. FIFA is based in Zurich and is subject
to Swiss law.

FIFA chief Blatter, who is also serving a 90-day
suspension amid a huge corruption scandal
engulfing the game, said last week that the
payment made to Platini in 2011 for consultancy
work carried out years previously, was “a
gentleman’s agreement”.

Platini, who also had a spell as France coach,
told Le Monde he felt Blatter was seeking to
“kill me politically” over the payment which
looks to have doomed any chance of his
succeeding him.

He had been seen as favourite to take over in
February until he was named in a Swiss criminal
investigation into Blatter’s management of
FIFA.

“It was a contract I had with Platini, a
gentleman’s agreement,” said the 79-year-old
Blatter in an interview with Swiss media
RROTV.

“It was implemented. I can’t give any more
details, the issue is being discussed in two
investigations.”

– Shame –
The suspensions on Blatter and 60-year-old
Platini, were announced as Swiss authorities
conduct a criminal investigation into corruption
allegations at the scandal-tainted world football
governing body.

Platini told Le Monde he felt “shame at being
dragged through the mud”.
He explained that Blatter had wanted him to
work alongside him at FIFA after the Swiss took
over but he turned down the request as he was
organising that year’s World Cup which France
hosted and won.

Blatter then came back and asked for his
services as an advisor, asking “how much do
you want?”
Platini said he replied: “A million.”
Asked to specify which currency he said:
“Whatever you want, rubles, pounds, dollars.”
He said Blatter agreed to pay a million Swiss
francs per year (around $770,000 at the time).

Platini added: “I am not a money man” and said
he told Blatter to “choose what you want to pay
me”, saying he had full trust in FIFA.
Blatter was duly elected to head FIFA and Platini
said: “I started working in the September.”

He said several months passed with no
payments to him and he asked at the time if
there was a problem.
Blatter said that it was difficult to pay him three
times the 300,000 Swiss francs that FIFA’s
secretary general was earning at the time.

Quoting Blatter, Platini said: “‘So we will draw
up a contract for 300,000 Swiss francs and give
you the balance later.’
“But later never came.”

FIFA’s congress is due to meet on February 26
to elect a new president, but Platini’s chances of
succeeding Blatter have been badly hit by the
payment row.

– Corruption –
Last week, the English FA suspended support
for Platini, despite UEFA’s 54 members having
previously offered backing.

The FA said it had been told of more
information “relating to the issues at the centre
of this case from Mr Platini’s lawyers” at a UEFA
meeting last Thursday.

Platini’s comments come just a day ahead of an
extraordinary meeting of the FIFA executive
committee, called to discuss the crisis which
erupted in May with the arrest of FIFA officials
ahead of a top meeting in Zurich.
Blatter and Platini will both be banned from
attending the meeting, which was expected to
consider postponing the February 26 vote on
Blatter’s succession.

Also on Monday, German prosecutors said they
were looking into, but not yet formally
investigating, claims that Germany bribed
football officials to win the right to host the
2006 World Cup.

“This could be about corruption, fraud or breach
of trust,” Frankfurt chief prosecutor Nadja
Niesen told SID sports news agency, an AFP
subsidiary.

“We will examine the available documents. But
we are still at the very beginning and have not
yet launched an investigation. This could happen
if we can confirm there is initial cause for
suspicion.”

Germany won the right to host the 2006 World
Cup by beating South Africa by 12 votes to 11
after New Zealand’s Charles Dempsey abstained
in the final ballot.

On Friday, Der Spiegel weekly published a
report claiming that the German Football
Association (DFB) had a slush fund to buy votes.