Frankfurt – Uefa president Michel Platini believes the setting up of an international sport police force is necessary in the battle against corruption and match-fixing in football.
“What we need is an agency that operates across borders, an international sport police,” the head of the European football union said in an interview Sunday with the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
“Interpol contacted us recently to offer us a working group. That is a start.”
Platini said the organization had learned from the allegations of Spyros Marangos, former treasurer of the Cyprus Football Association, who alleged corruption in Uefa’s decision to award Poland and Ukraine the Euro 2012 championship.
Marangos said that he has evidence that certain members of the Uefa executive took inducements when the vote was made in 2007.
“We are the only investigators when it is about a sporting matter. When it comes to a criminal matter then we hand that over to the authorities. It has become too dangerous to investigate these things on our own. We are Uefa, not Scotland Yard,” said Platini.
The 55-year-old Frenchman also criticised world football's ruling body over its decision to award the rights to host the 2018
and 2022 World Cups at the same time.
“It's a bad idea,” he said. “2022 is in 12 years, why do we have to make a decision about it today?”
Last Thursday, Fifa suspended two officials from voting for the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.
Fifa executive committee members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii were suspended following an investigation by Fifa's ethics commission. The governing body also suspended four former members of its executive committee.
The ballot to elect the World Cup hosts for 2018 and 2022 will now proceed in Zurich on December 2 with 22 voters instead of 24
but Platini believes that a new procedure needs to be put in place.
“The awarding of the right to host a World Cup, European championship or Olympic Games simply involves too much money. Perhaps we should be looking to find a better system,” he said. – Sapa-dpa