Paris: Disgraced Michel Platini has sensationally admitted to a ‘little skulduggery’ in rigging the draw to ensure Brazil and France could not meet until the final of the 1998 World Cup, where he was organising committee president.
“We organised the schedule so, if we finished first in our group and Brazil first in theirs, the teams could not meet before the final,” France great Platini told ‘Radio Bleu Sport’ in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, highlights of which the station tweeted Saturday.
The revelation comes at a time when Platini is banned from football for receiving a ‘disloyal payment’ of two million Swiss francs (1.7 million euros) when he was head of UEFA from disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
The draw took place December 4, 1997 in Marseille, and was presided over by FIFA’s then – general secretary: Blatter.
“Look, we were at home, you have to make the most of things, we weren’t going to go through the bother of six years organising the World Cup if we could not pull off a few little tricks,” said Platini, a former midfield star for Saint Etienne, Juventus and France. “Do you think other hosts didn’t do the same at their World Cups? A France-Brazil final was everyone’s dream,” asserted the former France captain.
Brazil were placed in Group A and France in Group C, which ensured they wouldn’t meet until the final, as long as both topped their pools.
Not everyone was happy with the fairly transparent plan, though. At the time, the selection process of top seeds for the eight groups had provoked accusations of a ‘European conspiracy’ by then-Brazil coach Mario Zagallo. Ahead of the draw, Zagallo had complained that French organisers would ‘do everything to ensure Brazil are not world champions’.
We were playing at home. So definitely as the hosts we wanted a little bit of advantage. Every host tries to do it
Michel Platini
