Former UEFA President Michel Platini has launched a massive legal counter-offensive in France against world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and its current president, Gianni Infantino.
The criminal and civil lawsuits stem from the explosive 2015 corruption allegations that effectively derailed Platini’s bid to lead FIFA, clearing the way for Infantino to take power instead, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Filed in Paris, the legal action targets several high-profile figures and seeks both criminal accountability and major financial damages:
Criminal Complaint: Platini accuses Infantino, former FIFA legal director Marco Villiger, and former audit committee chairman Domenico Scala of malicious prosecution and influence peddling.
Civil Lawsuit: The soccer legend has filed a separate suit against FIFA itself, demanding full financial compensation for internal maneuvers he claims were engineered to block his election.
Investigation into Collusion: French investigators have been asked to probe whether Swiss prosecutors improperly coordinated with FIFA officials during the original 2015 investigation.
The Backstory: A Million-Dollar Payment
The decade-long saga began in late 2015 when news leaked of a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.51 million) payment made to Platini by FIFA. The transaction had been authorized in 2011 by then-president Sepp Blatter.
The resulting ethics bans sidelined Platini—the former France national captain—and allowed Infantino, who was serving as UEFA general secretary under Platini at the time, to sweep in and win the FIFA presidency in early 2016.
The Turning Point: This fresh legal assault follows the definitive acquittal of both Platini and Blatter by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court on March 25, 2025. The ruling cleared Platini of all fraud and forgery charges, becoming final in September 2025.
Now 70 years old, Platini has stated that while he believes the original case was a targeted setup to destroy his candidacy, he has no plans to return to sports administration, noting he is now "too old to return to football."
FIFA has previously denied any wrongdoing regarding its handling of the 2015 case and was not immediately available for comment on the new filings.
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