Michel Platini's poor pass leads to own goal

Michel Platini, who resigned as UEFA president after losing appeal against ban from football activities, erred as Sepp Blatter's advisor between 1999 and 2002

Paris: Making the right pass at a crucial moment made Michel Platini (60) one of the world's greatest footballers, but poor timing cost his place as one of the most powerful men in sport.

Michel Platini. Pic/AFP

The Frenchman, who quit as UEFA president failed to overturn a ban from world football. As a player, he regularly battled back from injury to star in some of football's most dramatic moments, but escaping FIFA's corruption turmoil was tough. The time between his work as an advisor to FIFA president Sepp Blatter between (1999-2002) and a two million Swiss francs payment he received in 2011 was not great tactics.

CAS cuts ban to four years FIFA banned him for eight years doubting the payment's credibility. This was cut to six on appeal. The Court of Arbitration cut it to four. As a player, Platini won the French Cup with Nancy, league title with St Etienne and moved to Juventus in 1982 where he won two Serie A titles and a European Cup.

The passes were always inch-perfect. He won the 1984 Euro title with France and the Ballon d'Or in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He retired at 32 and a year later, began a four-year stint as France's national coach. The team crashed out of Euro 1992 in the first round. He quit. As administrator he was co-chairman of the 1998 World Cup organising committee in France and backed Blatter's bid for FIFA presidency.

He became VP of the French Football Federation in 2001 and led UEFA in 2007. Platini and Blatter were very close and FIFA claims they reached orally agreed to a salary of one million Swiss francs a year. Swiss prosecutors deemed a two million Swiss franc transfer in 2011 to be a "disloyal payment."

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