By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – It didn’t take long for Michel Platini to express his indignation over the decision to trial video technology. No sooner had the International FA Board given the green light for experiments to take place than Platini, still waiting to discover whether he can resume his role as UEFA president after being banned from football, made it clear he would have voted against the move.
Platini, who could have been FIFA president by now had circumstances been different, has long been against any form of scientific aids for referees. He had to be persuaded even to embrace goalline technology and said video replays were a step too far.
“I think it is a bad thing. Now, if the tests show that it is a good thing, why not. I think this is not right and that it will not work,” said Platini .
“If it proves me wrong, great, but it should not be the business of the companies working on the video who win. There is a lot of lobbying in this area and a lot of interest behind this. Some have been preparing for a long time. I am quite against the introduction of technology.”
“Football is a beautiful game but that does not depend on the referee or whether a decision is right or not. Football is loved around the world for its fluidity, because it’s a game that does not stop. I do not want us to harm football. In rugby it’s a little easier because the game stops and starts all the time.”
Platini is hoping to clear his name in time for the European Championships finals in his native France but has admitted for the first time that his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport may not be successful.
“I have rarely seen someone win against FIFA or UEFA through CAS. My lawyers are optimistic, but I’m very sceptical,” Platini told L’Equipe. “I know how it works from the inside. It is FIFA against me. This is not a matter between two clubs.
“As long as I am president of UEFA, even if I am suspended, I’m close [to football]. If I am definitively suspended, I will watch on from afar.”
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