By Walter Broeckx
A spokesman of the Austrian football federation said last Thursday against the press agency Reuter that Michel Platini can count on the full support of the whole Uefa. This was said after a meeting held in Nyon. An emergency meeting it was about the position of Uefa-president Michel Platini.
As we all know and have reported Michel Platini was suspended for 90 days by the ethics (sic) committee from Fifa together with Blatter. The suspension came after the news came out that Blatter had paid Platini the miserable sum of 1.8M€ a few years ago. A sum that was paid around the time when Blatter was seeking to be chosen again as Fifa president and they said it was for some work that Platini had done some 10 years earlier.
In short a very believable story. I hope you get the sarcasm.
So this Mr. Windtner from the Austrian Football Federation said that UEFA was backing Platini UNANIMOUS! Let that sink in. Unanimous.
Now of course we follow the rule that nobody is guilty until proven so in court. Now the first court session was by the Fifa ethics committee (not really a court of course but can be considered as one) and this court found that at least there is something completely wrong with the payment.
But according to the jolly fellows from the different football federations that is no problem at all.
So that’s it then. We take note that all the football federations from Europe have no problems with dodgy payments from Fifa to Uefa or from Blatter to Platini. Maybe they are using the principle : pretend that nothing is wrong and maybe the rest of the world will notice nothing at all.
Well I’m not fooled by this tactics. Au contraire I would say. It is great to see how Uefa is ripping of its masks. Or how all the different football federations are ripping off their masks one could say.
I wonder what will happen if in court (there will probably be a real court session about this in the future) they find that the payment was wrong and illegal. Then what? Will the Football federations again ignore this and pretend there is no problem with Platini? Or will they make a U-turn and forget that they have supported him all the way?
It somehow would seen more responsible and clever from the football federations to say at the moment: Now wait a minute, the ethics committee of Fifa (of all places one could say) agrees that there is something really suspicious and wrong with this payment. So we will wait till the final outcome of this whole process before we determine if we still would support Platini or not.
That is what I would do. But hey ho, I’m probably not fit to sit in any Uefa committee at all. Not according to their rules anyway.
But no, the football federations almost tumble over each other to be the first to close the ranks and declare Platini as the right man for the right job. Well probably he is the right man for their job.
I somehow cant help but this gives me more or less the impression that the rest of the football federations have maybe benefited from the payment also? And so they don’t want to risk that Platini will be hanged on his own and then might speak up and open other dirty things that are hidden underneath the surface?
That is how it looks to me.
But there is even more. Because Platini with the not so clean hands is also still the candidate for Uefa to step in the footsteps of Blatter and become Fifa president.
So let us get this straight. A person with apparently not so clean hands and a person who has been found to do dodgy dealings and receive dodgy payments from an also not so clean handed and incapable Fifa-president is still the best candidate to become Fifa-president.
If Uefa and the football federations really want to make sure that nothing will change then this is indeed the right move for them. General-secretary from Uefa Gianni Infantino confirmed this all and said that they hoped for a quick solution because Platini still wants to become the head of Fifa.
And let us remind you that Platini is not only being named in this scandal but also in the Greek Football scandal And if the football federations would have listened to the Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, who has said: “We didn’t interview Mr Platini as a witness, that’s not true. We investigated against him in between as a witness and an accused person.” Because in some quarters they still try to paint it as if Platini was just a witness.
So this person who is named in a few scandals is still the right man for the job according to the football federations from Europe. And according to the English FA of course. A man who clearly is not very good in picking the right friends it seems. Or maybe looking at it from the other side… he is brilliant in picking the ones he needs for his own career…
After all the scandals they had in Fifa they want to replace the head of Fifa with someone that is already being named in scandals in Europe…. What are they smoking at the football federations one could ask.
Maybe we could sum it all up with the words of Romario that former brilliant striker from Brazil. He said: “With Platini, Fifa will remain the same pile of shit”.
I completely agree with this and because of the football federations still supporting this person one could ask what piles of shit these football federations are beneath the surface?
FINAL NOTE: when we write an article it sometimes takes a while before we publish it. And in between the writing and publishing the news came out that the English FA was the first FA to withdraw their support for Platini. When we see bad things about them we say it. But when we have to give credit, we give credit. So well done FA and hopefully more will follow in your footsteps.
How has UEFA reached its decision to back Platini for the presidency of FIFA? Was our own FA party to it?
Until this cosy payment from Blatter has been explained satisfactorily, there is far too much suspicion circulating around the top echelons of this corrupt organisation. 😉
What would amaze me is if there was a credible untainted candidate anywhere within the top echelons of football.
If the top guy and the people around him have, for decades, been dodgy as hell, surely that dictates the type of people they welcome into the higher reaches of the organisation and the very way football administration functions. For decades!
the thing is, criminals often give up their sidekicks if they smell danger
Platini has had it, yes they are probably backing a man who used the UEFA vote to the wishes of the French president. At the very least, Platini will have to answer charges of tax evasion on this payment, but just get the feeling they have more. So much more on him. Remember, he went back on his word on supporting US. to back the Qatar bid….so there may be a small element of revenge here as well. The fact is, since the economic crash, the U.S. has insisted on financial transparency, or at least on a superficial level, with all those it has relations with , and that includes Switzerland and its banking system.
But don’t expect UK based football authorities, banks, accountants or auditors to get off scot free in all this mess.
As for FIFA, think The Jordanian prince is the only clean candidate left
@Mandy,
I’m already beginning to hope and believe that the backing of UEFA for Platini is like the kiss of death.
Maybe there is some good in the world of football governance, after all. 😉
Davor Šuker has also stated his full support for Platini. “He is good for football, I’m very happy for everything I’ve learned from him.” Platini was also full of support for Šuker’s inclusion in the Executive Committee of UEFA despite all the scandals that have been burdening Croatian football during Šuker’s reign. He had also stated support for other former football legends like Zbigniew Boniek (Polish FA). It’s no surprise that Boniek – Platini’s team-mate during their days in Juventus – was one of those who ran quickly to return the favour by stating support for Platini.
Now, Walter, you should always expect “small” FAs to state their support for Platini. He has secured them some places in Champions’ League draw at the expense of the best European leagues. He was also elected as UEFA president thanks to the votes from “small” FAs.
I absolutely agree with your and Romario’s claim from the title. I’ve seen too many biased performances in favour of France in the last six years to believe Platini’s UEFA can bring justice to the football affairs. I’ve also seen too many biased peformances from the referees against Arsenal in the last ten years to believe FA deserves more credits than a rat that leaves sinking ship. And we all know what FIFA is.
Think some good will come of this Nicky, they have just pushed it too far. They will need Someone like the Jordanian prince, assuming of course he is as clean as he makes out, a cleaner than clean football man alongside him, someone like Wenger, but not him, I want him at Arsenal for a while yet, plus a highly trusted transparent set of accountable auditors.
And they can take out the corrupt elements of the pgMOB while they are at it!
But even with all that, doubt if a game that generates so much money, and is, at the moment, so easy to fix will ever be significantly free of corruption.
If he is as guilty as most think he is, would love to see Blatter in a U.S. Cell though, but I suspect Blatter is a coward, and if it was coming to a custodial sentence, I wonder if he might find his own way out of it…..or just relocate to Russia.
Since the bidding for the 2006 World Cup hosting right was rigged in favour of Germany instead of to allowed South Africa who were poised to win the bidding votes to host the tournament, l was not only angry, but I start to suspect Fifa bosses of wranglings. We don’t use to hear this kind of wranglings before at Fifa as they are highly respected and their decisions on football matters are not questioned but accepted. It is the inordinate ambition of Mr Sepp Blatter to continue ruling Fifa for live that caused all those corruptions at Fifa. Mr Blatter made sure the tenure rule guiding the tenureship of the office of the Fifa President was made unlimited to any number of years. So that he can be recontesting every Fifa Presidential election until he died in office or incapacitated to continue. Since Fifa confederations have now believed in rotation of hosting the World Cup, I think it’s high time they also invoke rotation of the top offices for Fifa officials. As of now, Europe have over dominated the tenures of the office of the Fifa President. Save when Joao Havelange interrupted that European monopoly. And let the tenure of the new Fifa President be limited to only 3 tenure of 4 years each, maximum in my own suggestion.
My comment awaiting moderation? I know the 5 top nations in Western Europe call the shot in professional football in the World. But since we are now in the era of advance democracy, accountability and responsibility, hence I thus commented. No hard feelings. Thanks.
Platini wanted FFP because of certain English clubs having billionaire owner’s that could buy any player they wanted which was not very good for French football. Then along came billionaire’s buying French clubs and he relaxes the rules. Call me synical if you like but is that coincidence or not? How many favours are owed now?
” The government was set to protect man from criminals .
And the constitution was written to protect man from government .”
Ayn Rand.
And we all know how that worked out !
“He says the pair met again two months later, with Blatter asking Platini to become his football adviser and enquiring how much money he wanted.
Platini added: “I said ‘a million’. ‘A million what?’ ‘Whatever you want: roubles, pounds, dollars.’ He said, ‘OK, 1m Swiss francs a year.’ Incredible though it may sound, that’s what happened.”
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Platini is a comedian too!!!
Just put it this way, if I didn’t love Arsenal then I wouldn’t go near football, the whole thing stinks, and has done for years, my actual hatred for the game began with the clear bias and corruption in the PL, and has grown to the whole game!!! But gotta love The Arsenal…
Another “controversy” at the hands of the FA and PGMOL this morning, after it transpired that Butland’s two footed studs up lunge at Andre Ayew was repeated 3 times on the big screens at Liberty Stadium. However, it’s The Swans who are trouble for actually allowing the replays to be shown and repeated! Why?
League rule 39.4.1 states: “The screen shall not be used to show action replays of negative or controversial incidents.”
League rule 39.4.2 illegalises “any incident which brings into question the judgement of a match official”.
So there we have it – PGMOL, the FA and EPL are NOT interested in player safety, just that their precious officials should not be viewed in a poor way!
The comments made by Mark Hughes take the biscuit for tongue in cheekness though.
“I wouldn’t like to think it was deliberate, because when those situations happen it causes a reaction in the crowd and we had to deal with that.”
Bless ‘im – being in charge of such a nice club as Stoke must be really heartbreaking DOH!