By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – European football looks set to be without an elected leader until September if banned UEFA boss Michel Platini fails to clear his name over alleged ethics violations.
Platini, out of circulation since October after being provisionally suspended and then banned in December by FIFA’s ethics judges, will learn the result of last Friday’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by May 9.
With his entire career in the balance, the Frenchman is desperate to resume his presidency in order to run the show during next month’s Euros in his homeland.
But if his appeal fails, UEFA will not have enough time to choose his successor before the tournament starts on June 10, with September the earliest date for elections to take place.
“If Platini doesn’t get off, it is highly unlikely any election could take place before September,” a source close to UEFA told Insideworldfootball as the organisation gathered for its 54-nation Congress in Budapest on Tuesday.
“Candidates would have to have at least a couple of months to campaign and that can’t be done during the Euros.”
Platini’s ban has already ruled him out of making a triumphant return in Budapest where delegates will be keenly awaiting the outcome of his last-ditch hearing at the CAS, having delayed any election until the case is concluded.
In his absence, the Congress will be chaired by controversial stand-in president Angel Maria Villar, UEFA’s most senior vice-president who was sanctioned six months ago by FIFA’s ethics committee for failing to co-operate with investigations into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes.
Although Platini is confident of being exonerated over receiving a SFr2 million disloyal payment from FIFA in 2011 following an oral gentleman’s agreement with Blatter, ethics officials who originally banned both men for eight years (reduced to six by FIFA’s appeals committee) privately believe CAS has little choice but to uphold some kind of ban with FIFA still embroiled in a widespread corruption crisis despite a change of leadership.
“If the ban is overturned, it would mean a complete surrender,” one respected insider with knowledge of the case told Insideworldfootball.
“Imagine if the chairman of a publicly traded company paid SFr 2 million to another member of the board without any written contract. Both would be fired the next day. If CAS rules that what happened is acceptable, it will have a knock-on effect on the entire process of cleaning up FIFA and football.”
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