Platini Says Infantino ‘Must Go’ as FIFA President Amid Global Investigations and Lost Support

PARIS: French football great and former head of UEFA, Michel Platini, said FIFA President Gianni Infantino “must go” following the series of events following the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Infantino has come under fire from multiple quarters since his failed plan to privatise events like the World Cup, and has seen many football bodies withdraw support for his next term.

“Economic affairs are one thing, but Infantino has failed because he is the guarantor of the rules of the game, and he didn’t respect them,” Platini told Canal+.

“I always knew that he loved money and power,” Platini added. “It won’t be sporting institutions that sort this out and bring him down. If UEFA wanta to bring down Infantino, it will be through the courts.”

Platini was himself in the eye of the storm in 2015, when he was accused of fraud as UEFA President, but was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2025. The Frenchman was forced to step down at the time and couldn’t complete his wish of succeeding Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, with Infantino jumping at the opportunity.

“He didn’t bring me down, he benefitted from it,” said Platini.

“But now that there are lots of investigations into him all over the world, there is some noise about how he knew about certain things — let’s see what happens next.”

Platini is also suing Infantino and other FIFA officials “to seek compensation for all the damages he has suffered as a result of the tactics used to prevent him from being elected FIFA President in 2015”. Agencies

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