Platini Lodges Criminal Complaint Against Infantino in French Courts
Legal action follows Swiss acquittals in 2011 payment case and precedes World Cup start
Michel Platini, the former president of UEFA, has filed a criminal and civil complaint in French courts against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The legal action, confirmed by Platini’s lawyer Olivier Baratelli, alleges that Infantino actively worked to exclude the French football administrator from the 2016 FIFA presidential race.
The complaint names Infantino as the individual “first and foremost” seeking to prevent Platini’s candidacy. It marks a significant escalation in the long-standing dispute between the two figures, arriving just days before the commencement of the World Cup.
This filing follows the recent conclusion of criminal proceedings in Switzerland, where both Platini and former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter were acquitted. The Swiss federal criminal court acquitted the pair in 2022 regarding a 2011 payment, a decision upheld by the Swiss appeals court in 2025.
Platini has consistently maintained that the two million Swiss francs (£1.9m) payment from Blatter constituted back pay for advisory work conducted between 1998 and 2002. The payment initially triggered an ethics probe that led to an eight-year ban for Platini in 2015, later reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The legal challenge in France occurs amidst broader scrutiny of FIFA’s governance. Concurrently, attorneys-general from New York and New Jersey have issued subpoenas to the organisation regarding ticket pricing and seat allocation for the 2026 World Cup, focusing on allegations of dynamic pricing practices.
The outcome of the French proceedings remains unknown, with the specific jurisdictional reach of the complaint against a FIFA official based in Switzerland not detailed in the source material. The filing underscores the persistent institutional tensions within global football governance.
