International Football
PLATINI NARRATES HIS EXPERIENCE IN POLICE DETENTION
BY LIAM MORGAN
French football legend and former UEFA President Michel Platini has claimed he is “hurt” after he was detained for questioning over the awarding of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar.
Platini was released in the early hours of Wednesday morning
after he was taken in by the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police in
Paris.
The former France international and three times Ballon d’Or winner was questioned on “technical grounds”, according to his lawyer William Bourdon.
The 63-year-old, who denies wrongdoing, was detained along with two aides of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy before he was released without charge.
Platini was taken to be questioned in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, on Tuesdat morning.
Sophie Dion, Sarkozy’s then sports adviser, and Claude Gueant, the former secretary general of the Elysee, were also quizzed, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.
Platini told reporters following his release that he was asked about “Euro 2016, the World Cup in Russia, the World Cup in Qatar, Paris Saint Germain, FIFA”.
“It was very long, given the number of questions, it was obviously always going to be long,” he said.
“I arrived and was immediately taken into custody.
“It hurts.
“It hurts for everything I can think of, everything I’ve done.
“It hurts, it hurts.
“But after all, they did their job and then we tried to answer all the questions.”
Platini added: “I replied to all the questions calmly, whilst still not knowing why I was there.
“I feel totally foreign to any of these matters.
“This is an old affair, you know it, we explained it.
“I have always expressed myself with full transparency in all the newspapers.”
Authorities are looking into the process, which led to the Gulf nation winning its bid for the tournament amid allegations of corruption and bribery.
The former France international and three-times Ballon d’Or winner led UEFA from 2007 to 2015 before he was banned for the “disloyal” payment of CHF2 million (£1.5 million/$2 million/€1.8 million) made to him by former FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Platini voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup following a meeting two weeks before the vote in Zürich with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and then-French President Sarkozy.
He consistently claimed the meeting had not influenced his choice, although Blatter accuses the Frenchman of reneging on a “gentleman’s agreement” they had for the 2022 tournament to be awarded to the United States.
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Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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