The lawyer for former President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini, who has been detained in France in connection with a corruption probe, said on Tuesday that Platini had not been arrested and was simply being questioned as a witness
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2019) The lawyer for former President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michel Platini, who has been detained in France in connection with a corruption probe, said on Tuesday that Platini had not been arrested and was simply being questioned as a witness.Media reported earlier in the day that Platini had been detained in France as part of an investigation into the circumstances behind Qatar winning its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The former football executive was reportedly detained at a police station in a Parisian suburb.
"This is in no way an arrest but a hearing as a witness in the context desired by the investigators, a framework that prevents all persons heard, then confronted, can not confer outside the procedure," William Bourdon's statement was quoted as saying by the Independent newspaper.
The lawyer also noted that Platini was being asked not only about the 2022 World Cup bid but also about France getting the right to host the Euro 2016 championship.
"Platini expresses himself serenely and precisely, answering all the questions, including those on the conditions for the awarding of Euro 2016, and has provided useful explanations. He has nothing to reproach himself with and claims to be totally foreign to facts that go beyond him. He is absolutely confident about what's next," the statement added, as quoted by the newspaper.
Platini served as the UEFA president from 2007 until 2015, when he stepped down amid a major corruption scandal within FIFA, of which UEFA is a member.
