Kept away from the world of football by an interminable trial, Michel Platini could be tempted by a return to business.
More precisely at the presidency of the FFF, while Noël Le Graët is more weakened than ever.
Several influential voices, right up to the top of the state, are pushing in favor of the former UEFA president, an icon of French football.
"20 Minutes" takes stock of the hypothesis "Platini president of the FFF".
A (very) little bit of respite for Noël Le Graët.
Meeting this Thursday, the executive committee of the FFF decided not to decide anything about its president, pending the publication of the audit commissioned by the Ministry of Sports, expected at the end of January.
However, a return to business for the 81-year-old leader, forced to step down on January 11 and targeted since Monday by an investigation by the Paris prosecutor's office for moral and sexual harassment, seems to be science fiction.
Under these conditions, the names of leaders in place, such as Philippe Diallo, vice-president promoted to acting boss of the FFF, Jamel Sandjak or Marc Keller are mentioned to replace the Breton.
But another little music was very quickly heard, the day after Le Graët's statements on Zinédine Zidane, on January 8 on RMC Sport, which precipitated his fall.
The next day, on the same antenna, journalist Daniel Riolo claimed that Emmanuel Macron himself had sounded out the intentions of Michel Platini, which
20 Minutes
was able to confirm.
In addition, the former president of UEFA, from 2007 to 2015, will be received on February 10 by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and number 1 opponent of Le Graët.
"He must meet the minister, but it was planned long before these stories, to discuss the current football situation", specifies Jacques Vendroux, very close to the triple Ballon d'Or (1983, 1984, 1985).
"Noël Le Graët has done a lot of positive things, but he recently went crazy because he's tired, continues the journalist from Europe 1. It's time to leave, and I'm campaigning for them to be former great players who take power in clubs and federations.
Like Beckenbauer in Germany, or former glories at Real.
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A return to business, seven years later?
And Platini at the FFF?
Vendroux supports the idea, of course, even if he also mentions “Arsène Wenger, Lilian Thuram or Michel Denisot”.
Before specifying his thought: “My favorite is obviously Michel because I consider that he is the man for the job, who will be able to build consensus around him, in relation to everything he has already done.
»
But does he really want to, at 67, the last seven of whom have spent away from the authorities, since his disputes with the Swiss justice system which prevented him from applying for the presidency of FIFA?
“I spoke about it with him, no he does not really want to come back, reveals the irremovable leader of the Variétés Club de France.
But if we ask him to come back in the interest of France, he will come back.
»
In the entourage of the former coach of the Blues (1988-1992), currently on vacation in Mauritius, other voices evoke this almost Gaullian need to feel desired to apply for the head of the FFF, of which he was already the vice-president in 2001. However, on July 15, the former number 10 of the France team and Juventus Turin had a very different speech: “I have been in the media for 50 years , he said on LCI.
My family, I need a break from the media.
I decided not to present myself to FIFA, to UEFA, to the FFF, to Fifpro.
»
These statements came barely a week after his acquittal in Switzerland, along with ex-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, in the case of the payment of 2 million Swiss francs (1.9 million euros) made by the second to the first.
The Swiss prosecution and FIFA, led by Gianni Infantino, Platini's "best enemy", have since appealed.
Now, or probably never
Cold, a few months later, the destroyer of video arbitration would no longer be so categorical.
He also knows that at his age, such an opportunity to regain high responsibilities may not come again.
So why not apply, especially if a President of the Republic, a longtime fan of one of the icons of French football, after Kopa and before Zidane or Mbappé, encourages him to return to service?
And the “people”, what do they think?
According to an Odoxa poll for Winamax and RTL published on Saturday, 32% of French people questioned believe that Zizou would be the best possible president for the FFF.
A highly unlikely scenario for the former Real coach, closer to finding a bench than chairing a Comex.
Platini and Deschamps come second tied (24%).
Among football fans, Zidane still dominates with his 32%, but the former boss of the Blues is ahead of the current one (27% and 19%).
The Shadow of Court Cases
On the side of
20 Minutes
, we launched a call for contributions soberly titled “What do you think of a return of Michel Platini to French football?
".
More than 250 people reacted with very divided opinions.
Jérôme summarizes the opinion of the supporters: “He is the only one to tick all the boxes.
Captain of the Blues, coach of the France team and president of UEFA, he could form a magic trio with Zidane coach and Mbappé captain.
He was cleared at first instance by Swiss judges who understood where the plot came from.
2023 could well be the year of Platoche.
»
On the other side, we recall the famous trial, but also the "Qatargate" around the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the emirate. Platini had been placed in police custody on June 18, 2019, but he did not has since been the subject of no prosecution.
This does not prevent Patrick from being offended: “He also drags a lot of pans behind him, it is not with him that we are going to restore the image of the FFF.
We must thoroughly review the functioning of the Comex and put an end to the small arrangements between “friends” which make it possible to maintain in his post an uncontrollable president!
Fire NLG and its vice-president [Florence Hardouin] will not change anything, we have to put everything back together!
»
For her part, Najwa El Haïté speaks on the subject "in a personal capacity, not as a lawyer" of Platini: "I will welcome this as good news, because Michel Platini has given a lot to football, it is a myth, who then occupied the highest functions in his sport, as president of UEFA, seeking to democratize football, and amateur football.
“For the lawyer at the Paris bar, the decision to return” belongs to him and his family “.
And the court cases, aren't they likely to put a damper on these attempts to return?
“They are not a brake, he was cleared, as well as Mr. Sepp Blatter, by the federal criminal court of Bellinzona [Switzerland], and the judgment rendered by the court is very solid, replies Me El Haïté.
The prosecution appealed because a part, not all, played a rather vague role.
»
“In counter-attack mode”
Now, Platini "is more on a counter-attack mode than defense, since he knows he is innocent," she says.
The proof ?
“At the level of French justice, he filed a complaint on November 17, 2021 against GIanni Infantino, the President of FIFA, for active influence peddling, and against Marco Villiger, former director of legal services at FIFA. for complicity in active influence peddling.
But to date, we have had no feedback despite our reminders with my colleagues Hervé Temime and Gérard Zbili.
“Same vagueness around the date of the appeal trial of his client and Sepp Blatter in Switzerland.
"It can take years," notes the lawyer.
By then, the FFF will most certainly have a new boss, and Didier Deschamps will probably no longer be able to give "my president" to Noël Le Graët.
On this subject, moreover, according to our information, the coach of the Blues, whom the current situation weakens by ricochet, would not see favorably the arrival of Michel Platini at the head of the Federation.
The two men would not necessarily maintain warm relations since the second led the first in the France team, more than thirty years ago.
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