Michel Platini 'has done nothing wrong'
UEFA President believes that a public explanation isn't obligatory
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON:
European football chief Michel Platini has nothing to hide over a $2 million (1.8 million euros) payment he received from world governing body FIFA, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
UEFA president Platini has been interviewed by Swiss authorities investigating the 2011 payment, which he says was for consulting work that he carried out while working for FIFA president Sepp Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
Read: Blatter rules out resigning before FIFA election
"The president feels that he has given satisfactory explanations to the authorities that are dealing with this case," Platini's spokesman, Pedro Pinto, told reporters at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London.
Switzerland's Attorney General Michael Lauber has said there is evidence that the payment was "disloyal" to FIFA's interests.
Platini has told AFP the payment was only delayed because of financial constraints at FIFA HQ.
Pinto added: "He feels that there is nothing else to add because he feels he's done nothing wrong and therefore he doesn't need to justify himself publicly at the moment."
Former France captain Platini, a candidate to succeed outgoing president Blatter as the head of world football, has not yet addressed the matter in public.
Reinhard Rauball, the head of Germany's football league, said last week that Platini had failed to give a "credible explanation" for the payment.
FIFA is in the grip of its worst-ever crisis, which began in May when US prosecutors charged 14 football officials and sports business executives over involvement in more than $150 million of bribes.
Amid the corruption storm, Blatter announced on June 4 that he would stand down, days after being re-elected, with a special election to be held in February.
Platini had been the favourite to win that vote, but some believe his implication in the Swiss probe could harm his candidacy.
European football chief Michel Platini has nothing to hide over a $2 million (1.8 million euros) payment he received from world governing body FIFA, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
UEFA president Platini has been interviewed by Swiss authorities investigating the 2011 payment, which he says was for consulting work that he carried out while working for FIFA president Sepp Blatter between 1998 and 2002.
Read: Blatter rules out resigning before FIFA election
"The president feels that he has given satisfactory explanations to the authorities that are dealing with this case," Platini's spokesman, Pedro Pinto, told reporters at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London.
Switzerland's Attorney General Michael Lauber has said there is evidence that the payment was "disloyal" to FIFA's interests.
Platini has told AFP the payment was only delayed because of financial constraints at FIFA HQ.
Pinto added: "He feels that there is nothing else to add because he feels he's done nothing wrong and therefore he doesn't need to justify himself publicly at the moment."
Former France captain Platini, a candidate to succeed outgoing president Blatter as the head of world football, has not yet addressed the matter in public.
Reinhard Rauball, the head of Germany's football league, said last week that Platini had failed to give a "credible explanation" for the payment.
FIFA is in the grip of its worst-ever crisis, which began in May when US prosecutors charged 14 football officials and sports business executives over involvement in more than $150 million of bribes.
Amid the corruption storm, Blatter announced on June 4 that he would stand down, days after being re-elected, with a special election to be held in February.
Platini had been the favourite to win that vote, but some believe his implication in the Swiss probe could harm his candidacy.