In France, the courts are questioning the conditions for the attribution of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with, at the heart of the matter, a lunch at the Elysee Palace around the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Michel Platini and two senior Qatari leaders . After a preliminary investigation carried out over three years, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) in 2019 entrusted an investigating judge with the investigations for “active and passive corruption”, “concealment” and “money laundering”.
A lunch organized at the Elysee Palace on November 23, 2010 is at the heart of suspicion: around Nicolas Sarkozy were gathered Michel Platini, then boss of UEFA, the crown prince of Qatar Tamim ben Hamad al Thani, who has since become an emir, and Hamad ben Jassem al Thani, Qatari prime minister at the time. Nine days later, on December 2, 2010, the Gulf country was designated to host the World Cup in 2022 with the support, at the last moment, of Michel Platini.
Six months later, in May 2011, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was bought by the Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) fund for 76 million euros from Colony Capital. The representative in France of this American investment fund was Sébastien Bazin, a businessman close to Nicolas Sarkozy. And at the end of 2011, the son of the former captain of the Blues, Laurent Platini, was recruited as provisional general manager of the Qatari equipment supplier Burrda Sport, a subsidiary of QSI.
Justice wonders if this hiring was a counterpart to the vote of his father in favor of Qatar. The triple Golden Ball, 66 years old today, had refuted “totally these allegations” through his entourage.
In a note dated April 28, 2011 and revealed by Mediapart at the end of 2020, the sale of PSG to the sovereign wealth fund QSI is mentioned with a planned distribution of capital. The document, seized in June 2019 at the premises of Colony Capital in Paris, also mentions the amount of a salary to be paid to Laurent Platini.
Michel Platini, also vice-president of Fifa at the time of this criticized attribution, has always refuted an influence of Nicolas Sarkozy on his support for the Gulf monarchy. He was taken into police custody in June 2019 at the anti-corruption office (OCLCIFF), like Sophie Dion, technical advisor in charge of President Sarkozy’s sports. The former secretary general of the Elysée Claude Guéant, he had been heard in open hearing.
Investigations are continuing and no indictment has been pronounced, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Laurent Platini was not heard by investigators, according to one of them.