Yahoo – AFP,
January 7, 2016
Paris (AFP)
- Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini on Thursday withdrew from the race to
become FIFA president, telling L'Equipe that he will concentrate on clearing
his name instead.
"I
will not present myself for the presidency of FIFA. I am withdrawing my
candidature. I no longer have the time nor the means to go to the voters, to
meet people, to fight against the other candidates," said Platini in
reference to the January 26 deadline for nominations to succeed Sepp Blatter.
"In
withdrawing, I am dedicating myself to my defence."
Platini and
Blatter were suspended for eight years by FIFA's ethics committee over a 2
million Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euro) payment made to Platini in
2011 for work carried out between 1999 and 2002.
The
60-year-old Platini added that his eight-year ban has made it impossible for
him to have any kind of constructive campaign to take the sport's most powerful
job.
The new
FIFA president will be revealed on February 26.
"It is
a question of the calendar, but not only that. How can you win an election when
you are prevented from campaigning?," he told French sports daily L'Equipe
in the interview to be published in full on Friday.
Platini
added that when Blatter decided not to run again for a post he had held since
1998, he was busily garnering support for the FIFA presidency.
"I had
received 150 declarations of support -- 100 official letters from federations
and 50 promises. All in two days."
Platini
said he will concentrate his resources on an appeal to the Court of Arbitration
for Sport (CAS) and the FIFA electoral commission which is presided over by
Domenico Scala and "claimed that I had falsified accounts".
He added:
"I have fought like I have always fought in my life but I have not been
given the opportunity to compete this time round."
Platini's
decision to give up on his dream of becoming FIFA president leaves five
declared candidates.
They are Asian football head Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain, South African politician and tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, former FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, UEFA general-secretary Gianni Infantino and Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA assistant general secretary from France.
They are Asian football head Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain, South African politician and tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, former FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan, UEFA general-secretary Gianni Infantino and Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA assistant general secretary from France.
Platini, a
FIFA vice president, and 79-year-old Blatter were banned from all
football-related acivities by FIFA's ethics committee on December 21.
Platini
insisted there was nothing illegal in his oral contract he said was agreed with
Blatter. The salary agreement was however never disclosed in FIFA documentation
until the payment was made in 2011.
"I'm
struggling to understand. Why? How did we get to this? I did some work, I asked
to be paid, I sent an invoice, I was paid, I paid my taxes on that. That was in
2011," he told AFP when the ban was announced.
"There
was a debt that was settled, full stop! Then, in 2015, the Swiss court wanted
more information.
"Then
it took off at FIFA and a lot of people at FIFA are happy that this issue
happened.
"And
here I am, suspended from all football-related activity for eight years."
Platini
repeated his suspicions that the timing of the ban was a deliberate attempt to
prevent him from standing in February's election.
"What
was the FIFA ethics committee doing between 2011 when I was paid and 2015? Was
it sleeping? Suddenly it wakes up," he scoffed.
"Ah
yes, it wakes up in a FIFA election year when I'm a candidate. It's
amazing!"
Later
Thursday, UEFA said in a statement emailed to AFP that it "continues to
support the right of Michel Platini to due process and the opportunity to clear
his name".
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