Michel Platini Arrested Over Awarding of 2022 World Cup to Qatar

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has been arrested as part of a police investigation into alleged corruption in the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The decision to award the tournament to Qatar, which was made back in 2010, was quickly met with confusion and allegations of corruption, with many suggesting that FIFA officials had accepted a bribe to make their final decision.

Now, according to Mediapart, Platini was arrested by police in France as part of their investigation into the event.

He is being held in the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police in Nanterre while their investigation is ongoing. Police have also spoken to the former general secretary Claude Gueant, who has previously been found guilty of corruption during his time working in the French parliament.

Fans have accused numerous FIFA officials of accepting cash brides to award Qatar the World Cup. The likes of Australia, Japan and the USA had applied to host the tournament, but it was surprisingly offered to Qatar.

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A primary concern over hosting the tournament in Qatar was the incredibly high temperature of the country during the summer. The well-being of players was immediately questioned, and the event was eventually rescheduled to take place during the winter, which many felt was an unnecessary impracticality to club football.

Platini himself is no stranger to controversy, having previously been hit with a global ban from any football activities after being found guilty of breaching FIFA's ethics regulations back in 2016.

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Back in 2018, he told France Bleu Sport that the 1998 World Cup draw had been manipulated to ensure France and Brazil did not meet until the final, so as to try create the biggest game possible.