Platini grilled in Qatar 2022 graft probe
PARIS: Banned ex-Uefa president Michel Platini, questioned yesterday over alleged corruption in the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, has done “absolutely nothing” wrong, his representatives said.
The French football legend, who led European football’s governing body from 2007-2015, was called in for questioning by anti-corruption police examining concerns over allegations of wrongdoing in Qatar’s candidacy to host the event.
“He has done absolutely nothing wrong and affirms that he is totally unrelated to the facts [of the case] which are unknown to him,” said a statement from Platini’s representatives.
His lawyer, William Bourdon, denied that Platini had been placed under arrest by the police, saying that he had been questioned “as a witness”, according to the statement.
Qatar was named to host the World Cup in a decision that triggered controversy over its suitability amid allegations of corruption that ultimately sparked Fifa’s worst ever scandal five years later.
France’s Financial Crimes Prosecutors Office (PNF) opened a preliminary investigation in 2016 into allegations of corruption, conspiracy and influence peddling surrounding Fifa’s award of the World Cup to Qatar and also the 2018 tournament to Russia.
According to former Fifa president Blatter, Qatar won hosting rights as a result of a deal with the French, derailing Fifa’s own “diplomatic arrangement” whereby hosting rights would go to Russia in 2018 and then to the United States four years later.
The French investigation centres on alleged French intervention linked to Platini and the country’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to France Football magazine, a “secret meeting” took place on Nov 23, 2010 at the Elysee Palace in Paris between Sarkozy, Qatar’s thenPrince (now Emir) Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Platini, at that time both Uefa president and vice-president of Fifa.
Just over a week later, Fifa awarded Qatar hosting rights for the 2022 tournament.
The decision to award the event to Qatar ultimately led to a wider corruption probe that led to the overthrow of Blatter and Platini and the arrest of senior Fifa figures.
Platini, 63, led Uefa until 2015 when he was banned from football for four years for ethics violations including receiving a two million Swiss francs (US$2 million) payment from Blatter.