June 8 (Reuters) - Former UEFA president Michel Platini has launched civil and criminal legal proceedings in France against world soccer’s governing body FIFA and its current president Gianni Infantino over corruption allegations in 2015 that ended his bid to lead the organisation.
A criminal complaint filed in Paris accuses Infantino, former FIFA legal director Marco Villiger and former audit committee chairman Domenico Scala of malicious prosecution and influence peddling.
Platini has also filed a separate civil lawsuit against FIFA, seeking full financial compensation over what he alleges were internal manoeuvres designed to block his election as FIFA president more than a decade ago.
The case stems from events in late 2015, when details emerged of a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.51 million) made to Platini by FIFA. The payment had been authorised in 2011 by then president Sepp Blatter.
Subsequent ethics bans sidelined the former France captain and cleared the path for Infantino, then UEFA general secretary under Platini, to win the FIFA presidency in early 2016.
Platini’s legal action in France follows his and Blatter’s definitive acquittal by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court on March 25, 2025. The ruling cleared him of fraud and forgery charges, with the acquittal becoming final in September that year.
The now 70-year-old said after the acquittal that he believed the case had been intended to prevent him from becoming FIFA president, adding that he was now too old to return to football.
Under the complaint, French investigators have been asked to examine the conduct of FIFA officials and whether Swiss prosecutors improperly coordinated with the governing body during the original criminal investigation.
FIFA has previously denied any wrongdoing in its handling of the 2015 case.
FIFA was not immediately available for comment.
($1 = 0.7973 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Julien Pretot in Paris, writing by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
