Michel Platini files criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino
Michel Platini has lodged a criminal complaint in Paris against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, accusing him of orchestrating a scheme to derail his bid for football’s top job nearly ten years ago, reports BritPanorama.
The French footballing icon submitted the legal filing on Monday through his lawyers, naming Infantino alongside five other Swiss football and prosecution officials.
According to his lawyer Olivier Baratelli, the complaint alleges that Infantino and others “worked to exclude [Platini] from the race for the presidency of FIFA”, with the current FIFA chief positioned as the primary figure behind these alleged efforts. The charges include false accusation and active influence peddling.
Platini had been the overwhelming favourite to succeed his former mentor Sepp Blatter at FIFA’s helm in 2016, widely regarded as one of the most talented players of the 1970s and 1980s. His presidential ambitions collapsed when FIFA’s ethics committee launched an investigation into a two million Swiss francs payment he received from Blatter in 2011. This investigation culminated in an eight-year suspension imposed on Platini in 2015, effectively ending his candidacy. The suspension was subsequently halved to four years following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Despite the sanctions, both Platini and Blatter were cleared of fraud and forgery charges when they stood trial together in Switzerland in 2022. Swiss prosecutors appealed the verdict, but the federal criminal appeals court upheld the acquittals in 2025. Throughout the legal proceedings, the 70-year-old has consistently maintained that the controversial payment represented legitimate compensation for consultancy work he performed for Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
A separate civil action is also being pursued, with Platini’s legal team seeking financial redress from FIFA in Switzerland for what they describe as a deliberate campaign to obstruct his succession of Blatter. The timing of Platini’s legal action is particularly striking, arriving just days before Infantino opens the World Cup across the United States, Canada, and Mexico on Thursday. This tournament marks the first occasion the competition has been staged across three nations, with 48 teams participating in an expanded format.
Infantino’s path to football’s most powerful position opened directly as a result of Platini’s downfall, with the Swiss administrator winning the presidency in 2016 after serving as general secretary at UEFA under Platini himself.
As World Cup excitement builds, the shadows of past controversies loom large over the tournament’s opening. It serves as a reminder of how the legacies of football’s biggest figures are intertwined, revealing complex narratives behind the glittering facade of global sporting events.
