£1.3M Scam: UEFA Head, Platini Sets To Resign

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, Sports News Monday, May 9th, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – UEFA President Michel Platini will soon resign his position as the Head of European Football’s governing body after failing to have a six-year ban from football upturned.

A Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) panel reduced the ban to four years on Monday.

Following the judgement, the 60-year-old football star indicated he would be stepping down.

Platini and former FIFA President Sepp Blatter were last year found guilty of ethics breaches over a 2 M Swiss Franc (£1.3m) “disloyal payment”.

CAS found that his dealings with Blatter had breached the ethics code of FIFA, and while his six-year ban was “too severe”, it decided a four-year punishment should be handed down – the equivalent to a Presidential term in office.

It also said an 80,000 Swiss Franc (£57,200) fine should be lowered to 60,000 (£42,900), but stressed: “The Cas panel was of the opinion that a severe sanction could be justified in view of the superior functions carried out by Mr Platini (Fifa vice-president and Uefa president), the absence of any repentance and the impact that this matter has had on Fifa’s reputation.”

The duo who denied wrongdoing had their original bans reduced from eight to six years by the world football governing body appeals committee.

Platini had after taken his case to Cas, seeking to upturn the ban, but a three-man panel ruled that it “was not convinced by the legitimacy of the payment”. The matter is also being looked into by Swiss Persecutors.

The two claimed that the 2011 payment was made for consultancy work Platini had carried out for Blatter between 1998 and 2002, as well as had a “gentleman’s agreement” on when the balance was settled.

“I am resigning from my duties as UEFA President to pursue my battle in front of the Swiss courts to prove my innocence in this case” Platini stated in a statement after the Monday ruling.

He added that he considered the judgement “a profound injustice”.

In the meantime, UEFA following the ban, has announced it would meet Wednesday, May 18, 2016 “to discuss next steps”.

BBC