Platini "still determined" to run for FIFA presidency

September 30, 2015 | 09:18

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UEFA chief Michel Platini is "still determined" to run for the FIFA presidency as successor to Sepp Blatter in next February's elections, despite "doubts" about his integrity, he told AFP on Tuesday.

File photo of UEFA President Michel Platini during a press conference prior to the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich. (AFP PHOTO/FABRICE COFFRINI)

PARIS: UEFA chief Michel Platini is "still determined" to run for the FIFA presidency as successor to Sepp Blatter in next February's elections, despite "doubts" about his integrity, he told AFP on Tuesday (Sep 29).

"I am still determined to present myself as a candidate for the FIFA Presidency so I can introduce the governance reforms that are necessary to restore the order and credibility to world football," the Frenchman said.

But dismissing speculation that he had received "disloyal" payments from Blatter, Platini said his conscience was clear. "There is no doubt about my integrity. I have done nothing wrong. That is why I have made myself fully available to cooperate with the relevant bodies and authorities to clarify whatever may be necessary," he added.

On a day which saw FIFA ban former vice-president Jack Warner for life and the Swiss justice ministry approved the extradition of former Costa Rican federation boss Eduardo Li to the United States, where he faces a range of charges linked to corruption, Platini spoke to AFP about recent events which saw him implicated in a Swiss investigation.

He defended receiving a two million Swiss franc (US$2 million) payment from the world body in 2011 for work completed nearly a decade earlier. "I was employed by FIFA as a special advisor to President Sepp Blatter, working on various matters related to football, such as the international football calendar. It was a full-time job," Platini said.

"Like I explained to the Swiss authorities, I received only part of the agreed salary between 1998 to 2002. This occurred because, at the time, FIFA informed me that they would not be able to pay me the total agreed amount. Of course all the moneys received at the time were declared to the pertinent authorities."