Platini sues Fifa and president Infantino over alleged plot to topple him
Former Uefa president Michel Platini is suing Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, accusing him and two others of plotting against him and ending his chances of landing football’s top job.
Platini’s lawyers have announced that they are bringing legal action in Paris against Infantino and two former Fifa officials, legal director Marco Villiger and audit chair Domenico Scala.
Infantino, Villiger and Scala are accused of malicious prosecution and influence peddling in relation to an episode that proved Platini’s downfall in football administration.
Platini was the leading candidate to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa president until 2015, when Blatter was effectively accused of paying a bribe to Platini to secure votes for a fourth term.
Platini and Blatter received bans from Fifa’s ethics committee over the 2m Swiss francs “disloyal payment” but both have since been acquitted in the Swiss courts.
Platini demands compensation from Fifa
The former France captain is also suing Fifa for financial compensation in Switzerland for what his lawyers allege amounted to a deliberate attempt to block his succession of Blatter.
Infantino, the Uefa general secretary under Platini, won election to replace Blatter in 2016 and has been in post ever since, during which time he has tightened his grip on power.
The timing of the legal cases being made public will cause Infantino and Fifa maximum discomfort ahead of the start of the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada on Thursday.
Neither Infantino or Fifa have commented on the latest developments but the president is due to face media on Wednesday on the eve of the biggest ever iteration of the tournament.
It comes nine months after the acquittal of Platini, now 70, and Blatter, 90, on fraud and forgery charges by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court in September that year.
Infantino has overseen radical changes to Fifa’s operations and greatly increased its revenue since his election and last week topped CityAM’s first Football Power List.