adminLAUSANNE. — FIFA’s financial reports, reviewed by AFP yesterday, raised questions about claims from Michel Platini that a payment he received from the organisation was delayed for nearly a decade due to financial constraints.
Platini has been questioned by Swiss prosecutors in connection with a two-million Swiss francs ($2 million) payment he received from FIFA in 2011.
The payment is central to a criminal investigation by the Swiss attorney general targeting FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Both Blatter and Platini insist the payment was in exchange for consulting work done by the former French star between 1998 and 2002.
“Mr. Blatter informed me when I started my role as his advisor that it was not initially possible to pay the totality of my salary because of FIFA’s financial situation at that time,” Platini told AFP in an interview.
According to a financial report published in April 2003 and available on FIFA’s website, world football’s governing body had “a surplus of 115 million Swiss francs” at the close of the four-year cycle from 1999-2002. — AFP.
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa