Michel Platini, the head of European football has been arrested for alleged corruption charges to award Qatar the hosting right for FIFA World Cup, 2022. Platini is former captain of France and was also the president of UEFA. The 63 years old Michel Platini was detained by French police on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. According to French investigative outlet Mediapart, an investigation is being conducted on Michel Platini and he has been detained by French police on Tuesday morning in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris.

Michel Platini stepped down as UEFA president in 2015, after being banned from football for six years. This was later reduced to four years after an appeal was made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This ban got expired in March this year and the investigators leading the fight against corruption within football has arrested Michel on suspicion of Qatar getting the right to host the next World Cup by some illegal activities.

Michel Platini Detained

Platini was also questioned on Tuesday morning by the Anti-Corruption office of the Judicial Police (OCLCIFF). Michel Platini was also the part of the 1998 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee. Qatar was controversially awarded the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the year 2010, it was the same time when Russia was given the opportunity to conduct the World Cup in 2018.

As exposed by the Sunday Times, Platini admitted that he secretly met Mohamed Bin Hammam days before casting his vote for Qatar. An investigation by The Telegraph into Platini and Bin Hammam’s relationship claimed that the pair met “between 30 and 50 times” while serving on Fifa’s executive committee.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2019 03:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).