Where did it go so wrong for this former footballing great?
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| Michel in happier times - Pic - Wikimedia Commons |
Also published for Varsity online here
lMichel Platini, footballing great, Champions League winner, European Championship winner, three time Ballon D’Or winner, a midfield magician – and now allegedly a corporate apparatchik at FIFA? Where did it go so wrong?A year is a long time in football but not normally at FIFA, whose perennial allegations of corruption have in previous years blissfully floated by as quickly and as promptly as Manchester City’s liaisons with the Champions League group stages.
This year, that changed. Things are happening, people are being revealed as money-motivated wraiths. And Mr Platini, as Vice-President of the sport’s governing body, you’re right in there with them.
Regardless of whether you actually took that paltry $2 million from your old pal Sepp, you are tarred with the same brush of guilt that will sweep right through the tower of deceit that we call FIFA. Lest we forget, of course, your loyal but secretive support for the footballing superpower that is Qatar, despite pledging your vote to the US bid. Lest we forget the subsequent employment of your son by a Qatari sports kit company just months after the vote. Lest we forget your close ties with Sepp. Lest we forget the slightly suspect backing you receive from South America’s soccer confederation CONMEBOL. Lest we forget that you are currently suspended from all footballing activity for ninety days.
But it didn’t have to be like this, Michel. You were once the star of the international footballing scene, the darling of French fans.
Many younger generations will be oblivious to your stunning footballing exploits, particularly now that your name is instead associated with headlines about the investigations into FIFA.
You were at the heart of France’s legendary midfield “carré magique”, your technique, verve and skill stunned the opposition, you laid on goals more frequently than Messi breathes, and your passing could cut a knife with butter.
You brought home the European crown in ’84. You were heralded, lauded, exalted even. They crowned you Le Roi. Vive le Roi.
You didn’t just save your talents for the French; you blessed the Italians too. Following your successes at Nancy and Saint-Étienne, you travelled to Turin, where you donned the black and white stripes and scooped every award in sight, taking the title, the Scudetto, in ’84 and ’86, winning the Capocannoniere – top scorer – three times consecutively from ’83 to ’85.
On the continental stage, you won it all – crowning your domestic triumphs with the European Cup in ‘85.
That night in Heysel, one that many will want to forget because of the disaster that unfolded around you, was your night. It was, and remains, the pinnacle of domestic European football and you reached it. Yet you find yourself so close to being overshadowed again. But this time the spectre looms over your entire career.
From Europe to the world stage, you won the trophy that sets you above all else. Many remarkable talents have come and gone, from Puskas to Rijkaard, Pirlo to Thierry Henry, but none of them have won the Ballon D’Or. You did. Placing yourself on a par with van Basten and Cruyff, you took the title three times in a row. The crowning achievement of a remarkable career. You ranked with the very best; Maradonna and Pele sit in your company.
But when history turns her glare towards you, Michel, you won’t be remembered for the delight you brought to millions with your feet. You will be remembered as the man in a grey suit, the man tainted by the suspect goings-on at FIFA amidst the stench that currently surrounds the organisation.
Michel, even if you are innocent of wrongdoing, why did you stay? Why did you surround yourself with something so poisonous? Why did you say nothing?
You will always be the man overshadowed, not just by the disaster that night at Heysel, but also by the calamity of your role at FIFA.
Ça va mal, Michel. Ça va m
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