In France, the investigation of the corruption scandal around the elections of the countries hosted by the 2018 and 2022 World Cup is ongoing. On the eve of the publication Mediapart reported that in the suburb of Paris Nanterre on charges of corruption was detained Michel Platini, who at the time of determining the locations of the tournament served as president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). However, later the American television channel CNN informed that in fact the former functionary was not arrested, but only escorted for interrogation.
A day later, the information was confirmed by Platini himself. According to the former functionary, he was indeed taken to the office of the Anti-Corruption Department of the Judicial Police as a witness. However, he added that he was already taken into custody.
“It was unpleasant. It lasted a long time, but considering the number of questions it could not be otherwise. They asked about Euro 2016, the World Cup in Russia, the world championship in Qatar, Paris Saint-Germain, FIFA, ”The Guardian quotes the UEFA ex-president.
At the same time, Platini said that he was sympathetic to the actions of the French police and admitted that the law enforcement officers were doing their duty.
“We tried to answer all their questions. At the same time, I was calm, despite the fact that I did not fully understand the purpose of my visit, ”the Frenchman said.
In 2015, Platini and former head of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Joseph Blatter were suspended from football activities due to suspicions of corruption. The UEFA president was suspected of receiving two million Swiss francs from his fellow functionary, which was found to be an illegal FIFA ethics committee. As a result of the investigation, the fact was not established, as a result of which the period for the disqualification of managers was reduced to four and six years respectively.
At the end of the interrogation, Michel assured that he had never been involved in illegal actions.
“I feel completely unrelated to all of the above. This is an old case, we have explained everything. I always tried to express my thoughts with the press as openly as possible. I confirm that an investigation is underway, ”concluded Platini.
The lawyer of the former head of UEFA, William Bourdon, also confirmed that the information that appeared in the media regarding the detention of Platini was greatly exaggerated. According to him, in this situation there was "a lot of noise from scratch."
As it became known, in addition to Platini, two more people were subjected to interrogation. As in the case of Michel, sports adviser to the former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy Sophie Dion was taken into custody, but later released. In turn, former Secretary General of the Presidential Administration Claude Gean was called as a “free witness” and escaped detention.
Presumably, the interrogation of former high-ranking officials may be associated with data published by the famous portal Football Leaks in November 2018. They said that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was involved in Qatar’s right to host the 2022 world championship.
In particular, the portal’s investigation stated that a dinner was held in the Elysee Palace in November 2010, in addition to Sarkozy, the emir of Qatar Tamim Al-Thani, Hamad bin Jasim, who was then Prime Minister also Platini himself. It was noted that during the meeting, the upcoming elections to the place of the 2022 World Cup were discussed.
The data provided by the portal states that Sarkozy allegedly promised to help Qatar win the elections of the country - the mistress of the tournament. At the same time, in exchange, the sheikhs were to acquire the Paris Saint-Germain club, as well as to launch the sports channel BeIN Sports in France.
Platini gave his vote for Qatar, which received the right to host the world championship. A year later, Qatar Sports Investments acquired the PSG football club, which over the next eight years invested a total of more than € 1.5 billion, making it one of the most popular teams in the world. At the moment, the team colors are protected by such stars as Kilian Mbappa, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva, and the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona for € 222 million is still the most expensive in history.
The launch of cable TV channel BeIN Sports in France took place in 2012. In the very first year of broadcasting, he acquired the rights to broadcast the Champions League matches in the country, as well as to show the games of League 1 in several other countries.