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Former FIFA Vice President Michel Platini launched an appeal Wednesday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his six-year ban from soccer, just days after Gianni Infantino was elected to head the sport's governing body.
Platini, once a highly revered player, is looking to annul a decision made in December last year by FIFA that found him guilty of a conflict of interest and dereliction of duty over a US$2 million payment he received from previous President Sepp Blatter in 2011.
The pair were initially banned from all soccer-related activities for eight years. However, they both had their sentences reduced to six years after a hearing at the FIFA Appeal Committee last week.
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Platini is still serving as president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) as no interim boss has been named. He was appealing the decision through FIFA's judicial bodies in recent months, however the Frenchman says he will only get an unbiased hearing at CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland.
''This decision is in reality a political decision taken by the FIFA administration,'' Platini said last week. ''I am the victim of a system that had only one goal: To prevent me from becoming FIFA president in order to protect certain interests that I was about to bring into question.''
Zbigniew Boniek & Michel Platini of Juventus training 1983 pic.twitter.com/tX5H9zP1AE
— VintageFooty (@VintageFooty) 22 February 2016
No hearing date has been set and the procedural timetable outlined by the court indicates that Platini has not asked for a fast-track verdict. Blatter has also outlined his desired to appeal the decision through CAS.
Platini planned to run in the FIFA elections, but he was unable to clear his name in time to stand.
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Elsewhere, UEFA will meet this week to discuss a replacement for general secretary Gianni Infantino, who was elected president of FIFA last week.
European football's governing body, UEFA said in a statement that its executive committee would be meeting this Friday, with Infantino's replacement on the agenda.
Theodore Theodoridis, the deputy general secretary, would be the logical choice to take over at least on an interim basis.
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