Michael Platini, the former UEFA President and head of European football has been arrested in relation to the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a judicial official said on Tuesday.
The former France international captain was detained by French police on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, as part of the investigation into alleged corruption relating to FIFA’s decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to French investigative outlet, Mediapart.
Claude Gueant, the former secretary general of the Elysee under former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was also questioned regarding the probe but was not detained.
In 2010, Qatar was controversially awarded the right to host 2000 Worl Cup which was announced at the same time as Russia winning the right to stage the 2018 tournament and in 2014, Platini admitted that he had attended a secret meeting with disgraced former football official Mohammed bin Hammam, just before casting his vote for Qatar.
The investigation further proved that they both met between 30 and 50 times while serving on FIFA’s executive committee.
The 63-year-old Platini lead UEFA until 2015 when he was banned for 4 years from football for ethics violations and unlawful money transactions with the disgraced former head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter.
