Lennart Johansson, Michel Platini’s predecessor, has raised grave doubts over whether the Frenchman can remain as the Uefa president as its 54 members arrived for crisis talks in Nyon.
With Uefa members split over whether to back Platini and officials tentatively exploring other options, Johansson said he had never heard about the £1.35m allegedly “disloyal payment” from Sepp Blatter in 2011.
“Not at all, never heard about it,” said Johansson, who was deposed by Platini in 2007 but remains the Uefa honorary president. “He is one of my friends and I respect him as the president of Uefa. But if this true then things will happen,” he told Associated Press.
Asked if Platini could continue running Uefa, Johansson said: “I doubt it … But I don’t judge him yet.” Johansson said there was no room for corruption at the top of the “biggest sport in the world”. Platini, like Blatter, the Fifa present, has denied wrongdoing.
Platini was not present at Thursday’s meeting of the Uefa executive committee having been banned from football for 90 days by the Fifa ethics committee while its investigations continue.
His lawyers were expected to address the Uefa executive committee, which will be chaired by Ángel María Villar Llona of Spain in Platini’s absence.
Villar Llona is also understood to be under investigation by Fifa’s ethics committee over his refusal to co-operate with an inquiry into the controversial bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Marios Lefkararitis, the Cypriot Uefa executive committee member who like Platini voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, said Platini should be allowed to stand in the Fifa election – provided he cleared his name first.
“I think he should be allowed to stand in the Fifa presidential election,” he said. “He needs to clear his name but if he does that he should be allowed to stand.”
The Romanian federation president, Razvan Burleanu, said one of the items for discussion would be whether Platini should be replaced as Uefa’s candidate for the presidency.
It is believed some Uefa officials have begun to sound out Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, the Asian Football Confederation president, in the hope he could stand as a unity candidate if Platini is ruled out.
Uefa’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino, is believed to have spent several days in the Qatari capital of Doha this week.
“This is what we have to decide today,” Burlean said. “My point of view is for sure we need a European candidate.”
The FA, represented by its vice-chairman David Gill, was one of the first to back Platini’s candidacy to replace Blatter. But it is now understood to be ready to withdraw that support unless Platini can provide a written contract to explain the £1.35m payment. It was made in February 2011 for work undertaken when he was employed as an adviser to Blatter at Fifa between January 1999 and June 2002.
Platini, who insists he has done nothing wrong, has claimed Blatter told him he could not be paid the money at the time because Fifa was short of cash.
