Ex-UEFA chief Platini files criminal, civil cases against FIFA, Infantino over 2015 saga

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has initiated civil and criminal legal proceedings in France against FIFA and its current president, Gianni Infantino. These actions are related to corruption allegations from 2015 that ultimately ended Platini's aspirations to lead the global soccer governing body.

The criminal complaint, filed in Paris, accuses Infantino, former FIFA legal director Marco Villiger, and ex-audit committee chairman Domenico Scala of malicious prosecution and influence peddling. Platini has also lodged a separate civil lawsuit against FIFA, demanding full financial compensation for what he claims were deliberate internal maneuvers designed to prevent his election as FIFA president over a decade ago.

The case's origins trace back to late 2015, when details emerged of a 2 million Swiss franc payment made to Platini by FIFA, authorized in 2011 by then-president Sepp Blatter. Subsequent ethics bans sidelined the former French captain, paving the way for Infantino, who was UEFA's general secretary under Platini, to win the FIFA presidency in early 2016.

Platini's legal move in France follows his and Blatter's definitive acquittal by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court on March 25, 2025, with the ruling becoming final in September of that year. The now 70-year-old Platini had previously stated that he believed the case was intended to block his FIFA presidency and that he was too old to return to football.

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The case had been intended to prevent me from becoming FIFA president, adding that I was now too old to return to football.