Michel Platini has filed a criminal complaint in the French courts against Fifa president Gianni Infantino and two former Fifa officials, accusing them of malicious prosecution and influence peddling in a case that he says destroyed his chances of leading world football.
The complaint, confirmed by Platini’s legal team, names Infantino, former Fifa legal director Marco Villiger and ex-audit committee chair Domenico Scala. In a separate civil lawsuit, the 70-year-old former France captain is seeking financial compensation from Fifa over what he claims was a calculated effort to block his election as Fifa president.
“Platini files criminal complaint against Infantino and Fifa officials over alleged malicious prosecution.”
Platini was Uefa president from 2008 to 2015 and the clear favourite to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa head in 2016. But in 2015, the pair became embroiled in allegations of fraud and corruption over a payment of 2m Swiss francs (£1.6m) made to Platini in 2011, which it was claimed had been authorised by Blatter.
The scandal triggered Blatter’s resignation and ended Platini’s hopes of taking over. Platini was banned for eight years by Fifa’s ethics committee, later reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Both Platini and Blatter faced criminal charges but were cleared of corruption by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court in March 2025.
Infantino, who had served as Uefa general secretary under Platini, replaced Blatter as Fifa president in 2016 and has remained in office since, consolidating his authority and driving sweeping changes to Fifa’s operations. Last week he topped City AM’s inaugural Football Power List.
The legal actions have become public just days before the World Cup kicks off in the United States, Mexico and Canada on Thursday, causing significant embarrassment for Infantino and Fifa. Infantino is due to face the media on Wednesday on the eve of the tournament.
BBC Sport and Mirror Sport have contacted Fifa for comment but have not yet received a response.