Michel Platini detained over award of 2022 World Cup to Qatar
- Former Uefa president detained in Paris
- Platini taken into custody as part of investigation
The banned former Uefa president and France football legend Michel Platini has been detained in connection with a criminal investigation into alleged corruption relating to Fifa’s decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, French justice sources have confirmed. Platini’s detention was first reported by the news website Mediapart on Tuesday morning, with Claude Gueant, the former secretary general of the Élysée Palace under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, also being interviewed as a “free suspect”.
The arrest of Platini represents the first substantial public move in an investigation into the Qatar decision opened two years ago by France’s Parquet National Financier, which is responsible for law enforcement against serious financial crime.