Overview
- This week Michel Platini lodged a criminal complaint in Paris accusing FIFA president Gianni Infantino and several Swiss officials of false accusations and "trafficking of influence," and separately sued FIFA for damages.
- Platini names specific football figures in his filings, including Infantino and former FIFA lawyers and auditors, and asks French investigators to examine whether there was improper coordination between FIFA and Swiss prosecutors.
- The case traces back to a CHF 2 million payment from FIFA to Platini first reported in 2015, which led FIFA's ethics committee to ban Platini and prevented his run for the presidency at the time.
- Swiss courts later acquitted Platini and Sepp Blatter, with a federal appeals court decision becoming final in 2025, and Platini says his new Paris filings seek to show those 2015 actions were engineered to block his election.
- FIFA has previously denied irregularities and has not issued a substantive response to the new complaints, and a French inquiry could prompt fresh scrutiny of FIFA governance and the conduct of past prosecutors.