Platini questioned in 2022 World Cup probe

PARIS: The banned ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini was held for questioning Tuesday in connection with a criminal investigation into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The French football legend who led European football’s governing body from 2007 to 2015 was taken into custody by French anti-corruption police investigating alleged corruption in the 2010 vote to award the competition to the gas-rich Gulf state. Platini, 63, was in custody and questioned in Nanterre in the western Paris suburbs.

He denied wrongdoing and a statement from his representatives said the facts of the case were “unknown to him.” The decision to name Qatar as 2022 World Cup hosts triggered allegations of corruption that ultimately sparked FIFA’s worst ever scandal. France’s Office of the Financial Crimes Prosecutor (PNF) opened a preliminary investigation in 2016 into allegations of corruption, conspiracy and influence peddling surrounding the Qatar vote and also the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

According to Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president at the time, Qatar won hosting rights as a result of a deal with France, derailing FIFA’s own “diplomatic arrangement” whereby hosting rights would have gone 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 former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. According to France Football magazine, a “secret meeting” took place on November 23, 2010, at the Elysee Palace in Paris between Sarkozy, Qatar’s then-Prince (now Emir) Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Platini, who at that time was both UEFA president and vice-president of FIFA. Just over a week later, FIFA voted to award Qatar hosting rights for 2022 tournament.

Platini dismissed Blatter’s allegations as a “tissue of lies” and denies he was influenced by Sarkozy, whose advisor for sport, Sophie Dion, was also held for questioning Tuesday along with the former French captain. Platini’s representatives said in a statement: “He has done absolutely nothing wrong and affirms that he is totally unrelated to the facts (of the case) which are unknown to him.”