Former Juventus star and UEFA president Michel Platini believes FIFA president Gianni Infantino and current UEFA head Aleksander Čeferin are ‘usurpers’ who are ‘only do money and politics’. The French legend spoke with Turin based newspaper La Stampa about his former team, the importance of Gianni Agnelli in his career, why Juventus supporters are still close to his heart and why he believes FIFA and UEFA are run by people who don’t respect the competitions:
“The memories of my life and those related to football are two different things. Without Juventus, without L’Avvocato (Gianni Agnelli, ed), I would never have become Michel Platini. If I had stayed in Nancy my life would have taken a whole different turn….. Do you know what in the end is the most beautiful thing? The passion of the Juventus fans for me. In the end, I have always remained one of them.”
“If we had won the Champions Cup in Hamburg we would have won three in a row and opened a cycle, Boniek always tells me that too.”
“Financial fair play? Ask the UEFA people. Something endures but it is complicated for UEFA president Ceferin to enforce it if his main supporter is PSG’s Emir, Al Khelaifi. The truth is that both Ceferin and FIFA president Infantino are usurpers. I did football, they did politics. There is no reform in their programs except to make more matches and collect more money. And so they don’t respect the competitions that have made football history.”
“The Super League? Sooner or later it will become a reality, but not like this. And… don’t let me say more.”
“What’s left for me? Only the idea of a plot to take me down.”
“Heysel? We had to play to protect the people inside the stadium. I have never regretted that choice.
“Vlahovic? Society is racist, football tries to keep racism out of stadiums but its complicated. If I had an idea when I was president of UEFAI would have applied it.”
“The points penalty? How much did it influence on players? A lot, if you are attached to the club. Otherwise the players can also give a damn but they know they can easily change teams anyway.”
“Juve never offered me a managerial role, coming back here after 30 years would have made no sense. Of that world there would have been no one left, love stories are not relived twice.”
