Former UEFA president Michel Platini has launched civil and criminal proceedings against FIFA and its current president, Gianni Infantino, over allegations of corruption in 2015, which he claims stopped his bid to become president of the world soccer body.
The criminal complaint, filed in French courts, accuses Infantino and two former FIFA officials – former legal director Marco Villiger and audit committee chairman Domenico Scala – of malicious prosecution.
In a separate civil suit, Platini, who is 70, seeks financial compensation from FIFA due to alleged attempts to block his election as president of that organization, writes the BBC.
Platini, a former captain of the French national team, was UEFA president from 2008 to 2015 and was seen as the favorite to succeed Sepp Blatter as the head of FIFA in 2016.
However, in 2015 Platini and Blatter found themselves at the center of the accusations for fraud and corruption over a payment of two million Swiss francs, or about £1.6 million, received by Platini in 2011, which was allegedly approved by Blatter.
The case led to Blatter’s resignation and ended Platini’s chances of taking charge of FIFA. At that time, the FIFA Ethics Committee imposed an eight-year ban on the Frenchman from working in football, which was later reduced to four years before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, reports Fena.
Platini and Blatter later on faced criminal chargesbut the Swiss Federal Court of Criminal Appeal acquitted them of corruption charges in March 2025.
Infantino, who was UEFA’s general secretary when Platini was president of the organization, succeeded Blatter as FIFA president.
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