Copa América

Soccer great now mired in corruption scandals

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:24 p.m. ET

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Affectionately nicknamed Le Roi, or The King, Michel Platini bestrode the soccer field with inimitable elegance as the world's best player of the early 1980s, helping to bridge the gap between the eras of Pele and Diego Maradona.

Repeatedly voted Europe's best player, the Frenchman instantly recognizable for his unruly mop of hair and his often grumpy demeanor in his later years went on to become European soccer's able top administrator as president of the UEFA.

Now his lofty reputation in the so-called beautiful game has been tainted by corruption scandals.

Banned from the sport four years ago for financial misconduct, the 63-year-old Platini was questioned by police Tuesday as part of an unconnected corruption probe into the vote that awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Platini denied any wrongdoing.

It is just the latest in a torrent of scandals that have brought down dozens of soccer officials, particularly from world governing body FIFA, in recent years.

"Of all those that have been either arrested, indicted etc, Michel Platini is the saddest and most depressing," former England captain Gary Lineker tweeted. "He was a footballer, one of us."

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