Agence France-Presse
Lausanne, May 9: Michel Platini quit Monday as the head of European football (UEFA) after a sports tribunal rejected his final appeal against his ban from football over a suspect two million dollar payment he received from FIFA.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where Platini filed an appeal against his ban in February, however, reduced his suspension from six years to four. It also stated that the penalty initially imposed by FIFA’s ethics committee was ‘too severe’. However, CAS also stated that it was ‘not convinced’ that the payment Platini received from FIFA in 2011 was legitimate.
Platini said in a statement that following the ruling he had no choice but to resign from UEFA. “As agreed with the national associations, I resign as president of UEFA to pursue my fight before the Swiss courts to prove my probity in this case,” the former French captain said in a statement. He called the CAS ruling ‘a profound injustice’.
UEFA’s executive committee is to meet May 18 in Basel, before the Europa League final, when it will likely begin the process of selecting Platini’s replacement, although an election could be put off for several more weeks.
The ruling means Platini will be barred from presiding over the Euro 2016 which opens June 10 in his native France. He was a key organiser up until his suspension in December.
The CAS ruling noted that Platini had a valid consulting contract with FIFA signed in 1999 – with an agreed salary of 300,000 Swiss francs (USD 300,000) per year – which terminated in 2002.
But, the USD two million he received from FIFA in 2011, ‘was not based on any document established at the time of the contractual relations’ and did not match the amount left unpaid at the end of the contract, CAS said. The ruling from the three-judge panel also highlighted that Blatter authorised the payment to Platini four months before a FIFA presidential election.
