PARIS (DPA) - The former Uefa president and French football great Michel Platini was released from custody after being questioned as part of a corruption investigation into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, French media reported.
Platini, 63, was held in police custody according to French media reports which were confirmed by dpa in Paris through judicial sources.
He was released after being held for several hours at the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police outside Paris, news agency AFP reported early Wednesday (June 19).
Qatar was controversially awarded the World Cup after a December 2010 vote of the executive committee of world football governing body Fifa.
Platini, who voted for Qatar in 2010, expressed belief in his innocence.
Through a statement released by his public relations team, Platini's counsel William Bourdon "strongly asserts that this is in no way an arrest, but a hearing as a witness in the context desired by the investigators".
It was said Platini expressed himself "serenely and precisely" in "answering all the questions," asked of him, which also included some related to Euro 2016, which was held in his native France.
"He has nothing to reproach himself with and claims to be totally foreign to facts that go beyond him," the statement said. "He is absolutely confident about what's next."
French media reported anti-corruption investigators had also detained a sports adviser to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy while Claude Gueant, formerly an Elysee general secretary, was questioned but not detained.
The French portal Mediapart reported that authorities were investigating Platini's meeting with Sarkozy and Qatar's Emir Tamim Hamad at the Elysee Palace less than two weeks before the 2010 vote.
Qatar was given the World Cup after beating the United States 14-8 in the final run-off.
Two members of the committee were blocked from voting over corruption allegations while half of the 22 who did determine the venues for the 2018 Cup, awarded to Russia, and 2022 have since been fined, suspended, banned for life or prosecuted for corruption.
Securing the tournament did not end the controversy for Qatar, with the extreme summer heat in the Gulf nation forcing an unprecedented switch to a November-December tournament.
And human rights groups have been consistently critical over conditions for guests workers in the country involved in World Cup construction projects.
Fifa has previously investigated the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar but did not find evidence of improper behaviour from its bid team.
Platini was suspended by the Fifa ethics committee for eight years in 2015, with the ban later reduced to four years, for receiving a "disloyal" payment of 2 million Swiss francs (S$2.73 million) from then-Fifa president Joseph Blatter in 2011.
The pair claimed it was delayed remuneration for Platini's work for Fifa from 1998-2002. Blatter was later banned for six years for his role in the incident.
Prior to his ban, Platini was considered a favourite to step up from European body Uefa to replace Blatter as Fifa chief. Instead, Uefa secretary general Gianni Infantino took on the role and Aleksander Ceferin replaced Platini as Uefa head.
Platini turns 64 on Friday and his ban is due to expire in October.
Whether he will return to a role in football remains unclear.
