Platini admits to manipulating France’s 1998 World Cup draw

BY

-

Fri, 18 May 2018 - 04:00 GMT

BY

Fri, 18 May 2018 - 04:00 GMT

UEFA president Michel Platini in the standsAction Images via Reuters / Carl RecineLivepic

UEFA president Michel Platini in the standsAction Images via Reuters / Carl RecineLivepic

CAIRO – 18 May 2018: Former UEFA President Michel Platini has admitted that during the 1998 World Cup in France, the draw was manipulated so that Brazil and France were placed in different groups and could not cross face each other before the final.

Platini says that everyone wanted that World Cup to end with a final between the two best national teams at that moment.

The FIFA Organizing Committee decided to arbitrarily place Brazil in group A and France in group C, two tables that do not meet until the final. It was obviously a manipulation against the regulations of FIFA itself, which forces the placement by pure chance.

"France-Brazil in the final, it was the dream of everyone," Platini told radio station France Bleu Sport in an interview to be broadcast in full on Sunday.

Platini tried to justify himself in the interview, saying that it was done to please everyone. "We did not spend six years organizing the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans. Do you think other World Cup hosts did not?" he stated.

In addition, he affirms that it is a practice that has been carried out on more occasions during the history of football. "Do you think others did not?" he snapped at the interviewer.

Comments

0

Leave a Comment

Be Social