The FIFA Saga - Going...Going...Gone

The net is tightening around the movers and shakers of world football as the FIFA corruption scandal gathers momentum.

- Keir Radnedge

Michel Platini shambled in for his press conference. He smiled, laughed and joked with his UEFA general secretary, Gianni Infantino, and his media minder, former CNN sports reporter Pedro Pinto, and sat down to face a throng of cameras and reporters. All were poised for “the news”.

A month earlier, Platini had been first out of the blocks to declare his pursuit of the presidency of FIFA, writing to all the world’s national associations nine days after the executive committee had set the election for February 26.

Now, at the Grimaldi Forum conference centre, staring out at the Mediterranean in Monte Carlo, the French president of UEFA had cleared the decks. The previous day the Champions League group draw had been undertaken; this morning it had been the turn of the Europa League. Now, with all the club business out of the way, it was time to talk of the UEFA president’s world ambitions. 

A fortnight earlier a leak had suggested Platini would use the occasion to launch his manifesto. This, it was understood, was no longer the plan. But at least Platini was here to talk, to front up, to explain why the 209 national associations should vote for him; why he was the right man to pull FIFA out of the corruption-stained, reputation muddied mire. Except that speaking up was not on his agenda.

As Platini glowed with mischievous satisfaction so Pinto explained that this was a UEFA occasion and FIFA was off limits. There is nothing journalists hate as much as being told they cannot ask questions of a particular subject. It raises hackles and guarantees a bad press. Various reporters from the UK, France, Germany and Italy tried to tease him out. Each time Platini smiled and demurred.