Platini Waves Goodbye To FIFA Presidency
Suspended Uefa president Michel Platini has formally withdrawn his candidacy for the Fifa presidency.
Platini told The Associated Press (AP) that he will dedicate himself to overturn the eight-year ban he was handed by FIFA’s ethics committee last month, but that the deadline for the 26 February election is too short and renders his candidacy impossible.
In an interview on Thursday, Platini told AP: “I’m withdrawing from the race for FIFA presidency.
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“The timing is not good for me. I don’t have the means to fight on equal terms with the other candidates.
“I have not been given the chance to play the game. Bye, bye FIFA. Bye, bye FIFA presidency.”
Platini, along with Fifa president Sepp Blatter, was last month banned from football-related activities for eight years by world football’s governing body.
Both men were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
