Michel Platini may have emerged as the favourite to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of scandal-riddled FIFA, but it is his close links to the veteran Swiss threaten to end his dreams of running world football’s governing body.
The current UEFA president and once one of the greatest players in the world when he starred for Saint-Etienne, Juventus and France in the 1980s, Platini has tried to position himself as the man to clean up an organisation brought to its knees by endless corruption scandals in recent months.
But on Friday he was implicated as Swiss authorities opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, with the outgoing head of FIFA accused of making a “disloyal payment” to Platini of two million Swiss francs ($AU2.9 million).
The office of Switzerland’s attorney general said the payment had been made in February 2011, allegedly “for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002.”
His office refused to make an immediate comment on the Swiss case on Friday.
Platini gave his support to Blatter when the Swiss won the 1998 FIFA presidential elections and was a close ally of Blatter’s for a long time, although he sought to distance himself from the 79-year-old as the scandal grew.
The Frenchman, a grandson of Italian immigrants, turned 60 earlier this year, and having conquered Europe as a player and then become UEFA chief in 2007, he wants to take on the huge task of transforming FIFA’s damaged reputation.
He quickly emerged as the favourite to win the elections to replace Blatter, which will be held on February 26, 2016, but his rivals, including South Korea’s Chung Mong-Joon, have accused him of being tainted by association with the current FIFA chief.
Chung said that Blatter and Platini once had a “father and son” relationship even though the Frenchman has turned against the FIFA leader.
“The core issue of this election is whether the 40-year-old system of corruption should continue or not,” said Chung recently.
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who enjoyed Platini and UEFA’s support when he stood against Blatter in May’s elections for president, is standing again and has turned Platini, describing him as “not good for football”.
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