Gianni Infantino (foto: Getty Images)
Michel Platini has launched a fierce attack on FIFA president Gianni Infantino, accusing him of running football in an autocratic way and claiming FIFA is now less democratic than it was under Sepp Blatter.
Michel Platini has once again gone to war with Gianni Infantino.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, the former UEFA president delivered one of his harshest public attacks yet on the current FIFA boss, accusing him of authoritarian leadership and serving only the rich and powerful.
Platini believes Infantino changed after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"He was good as number two, not as number one. He did a very good job at UEFA, but he has a problem — he loves the rich and the powerful, those with money. It's in his nature. He was like that before, except he wasn't the boss then. Since the pandemic, he has become an autocrat," Platini said.
The two men know each other extremely well. Platini led UEFA from 2007 to 2015, while Infantino was his secretary general during that period.
Platini went even further by comparing today’s FIFA to the era of Sepp Blatter.
"Today, there is less democracy in FIFA than in the Blatter era. You can say a lot about Blatter, but his main sin was that he wanted to stay at the head of FIFA for life. But basically, he was good for football," said the three-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The conflict between Platini and Infantino has been going on for almost a decade.
Platini is convinced that he was deliberately removed from the race to become FIFA president in 2015 after Swiss prosecutors opened a case over a controversial payment of two million Swiss francs made in 2011 on Blatter’s orders, without a written contract.
Both Platini and Blatter were fully acquitted in Swiss courts in 2025.
Despite this, Platini’s career was effectively destroyed by a long suspension from football, which was initially eight years and later reduced to four on appeal.
Platini insists this was a political operation.
"I was destined to become FIFA president. All this happened because they didn't want me to. The suspension was a political and profound injustice," said the 70-year-old.
He has not given up the legal fight. Late last year, Platini also filed a defamation lawsuit against three former FIFA officials.
For Platini, this is no longer just about football. It is about legacy, power, and what he sees as the capture of the sport by money and politics.
And in his eyes, Gianni Infantino has become the symbol of everything that went wrong.