Former president of UEFA Michael Platini again intensified the conflict with the head of FIFA Gianni Infantinoclaiming that his former secretary has “turned into an autocrat” since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.
“He was a good number two, but not a good number one. He did a very good job at UEFA, but he likes the rich and powerful, those with money. It’s in his nature… Unfortunately, Infantino has become an autocrat since the pandemic,” said the 70-year-old Frenchman, recalling that he hired the Italian-Swiss in 2009 when he was leading the European umbrella organization.
Platini claims that there is “less democracy in today’s FIFA than under Sepp Blatter”. He added of the former world football boss: “You can say what you want about Blatter, but his main problem was that he wanted to stay at FIFA for life. He was a good person for football.”
The conflict between the two high-ranking officials has been going on since 2015, when, according to Platini’s belief, Infantino warned the Swiss prosecutor’s office about the payment of 2 million Swiss francs (about 1.8 million euros) made by FIFA to Platini in 2011 at the behest of Blatter – without a written explanation.
In 2025, Blatter and Platini were legally acquitted of fraud and other criminal offenses related to that payment. Despite the judicial rehabilitation, Platini received an eight-year ban from football in 2015, which was later shortened to six years by FIFA’s Ethics Committee, and then to four years by CAS.
At the end of November last year, Platini filed a defamation lawsuit against three former FIFA officials, announcing the continuation of the legal battle for his reputation. “I was destined to become the president of FIFA… It all happened because they didn’t want it,” he claimed, describing the suspension as a “grave injustice” and a “political decision.”
The French legend of three Golden Balls admits that the last ten years have been particularly painful for his family, but emphasizes that he “never doubted the final verdict” because, he says, he knew he was innocent.
