Platini draws a line under the return to FIFA, UEFA or French football policy

By Andrew Warshaw

July 18 - Michel Platini will not attempt to take on Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency after deciding to abandon his original dream of leading world football.

Earlier this month, the former UEFA boss was acquitted of fraud, embezzlement and other corruption charges in a long-running criminal case brought by Swiss judicial authorities that broke his ambitions.

But the Frenchman ruled out any return attempt.

"It's over," he told French media of a possible return to FIFA where, as UEFA president, he was automatically vice-president.

Platini has long been convinced that there was a deliberate plot to prevent him from becoming FIFA President. Last year, he filed a criminal complaint in France for trading in the influence of Infantino.

In addition, Infantino remains under criminal investigation by Swiss prosecutors for a series of undocumented meetings he had with the office of the Swiss Attorney General.

“There are a few who killed me,” Platini is said to have said. "Those who were in place didn't want me to come."

Without naming names, he cited personalities who "took my place, at UEFA, at FIFA, they all got raises, they had advantages that I was no longer there."< /p>

Although he partially cleared his name - he was banned by FIFA for the so-called "unfair payment" of $2 million to former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who was also acquitted in the same Swiss criminal case - Platini said he no longer had the motivation to seek a high-level position in football administration.

"I want to live a little quietly," he said. "I decided not to race for FIFA, not to race for UEFA, not to race for the French Football Federation. These are decisions I made a long time ago but I wanted to be able to say it with your head held high, not in the grip of an indictment."

"If there is something interesting to do for football, I would do it but not in these institutions, I do not want to return to this world."

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