Platini takes corruption appeal to human rights court

PARIS: Disgraced former France star Michel Platini has appealed against his suspension from football for corruption to the European Court of Human Rights.

“It’s a question of honour for me. I want to be granted justice,” the 62-year-old former UEFA president told Wednesday’s edition of Le Monde newspaper. Platini was originally suspended for eight years FIFA in 2015 over a two million Swiss francs (1.8m euros, $2m) payment he received from the world football governing body for consultancy work, a transaction that also saw former FIFA president Sepp Blatter handed a long ban.

Platini’s sanction was reduced by two years on appeal and then reduced again to four years by another appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.But a further appeal in the Swiss courts failed and his suspension is due to end in October 2019. “This appeal is consistent with what I’ve always said: I have done nothing wrong and I’m determined to exercise my full rights and to prove my innocence,” added Platini, a dashing playmaker for Saint Etienne and Juventus during his playing career before becoming France coach and then the head of UEFA.