Michel Platini
Michel Platini is the French football legend who won three consecutive Ballons d'Or (1983, 1984, 1985), captained France to the 1984 European Championship and later ran UEFA from 2007 to 2015. Definitively acquitted in Switzerland in 2025 in the FIFA payment case, he holds no football office today. A six-part Canal+ documentary series, PLATINI, airs on August 23 and 30, 2026. Sources: UEFA, Canal+, France 24, Wikipedia.
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Where does Michel Platini live?
Platini has long been settled in the south of France, in the Cassis area of the Bouches-du-Rhône, where he moved with his family after his football career. He keeps a deliberately low public profile there and has held no football role since leaving UEFA. Sources: French press profiles, Purepeople.
What is Michel Platini's nationality?
He is French. Born in Jœuf, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of Lorraine, he is the son of Aldo Platini, a football coach of Italian descent, and he represented France 72 times as a player between 1976 and 1987. Source: Wikipedia.
How old is Michel Platini?
Michel Platini was born on June 21, 1955, which makes him 71 years old as of August 2026. Source: Wikipedia.
How tall is Michel Platini?
He is 1.79 m tall (about 5 ft 10 in). He was never a physically imposing midfielder; his game was built on vision, timing of runs into the box and one of the finest free-kick techniques the sport has produced. Source: Wikipedia.
What did Michel Platini win as a player?
A lot. He won the Ballon d'Or three years running, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a feat only a handful of players have matched. With France he won the 1984 European Championship, where he scored nine goals in five matches and was named player of the tournament. With Juventus he won Serie A twice, the Cup Winners' Cup, the European Super Cup, the 1985 European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Sources: UEFA, Wikipedia.
What clubs did Michel Platini play for?
Three: AS Nancy (1972-1979), where he came through and made his name, AS Saint-Étienne (1979-1982) and Juventus (1982-1987), where he reached his peak and won his three Ballons d'Or. He retired from playing in 1987 at the age of 32. Source: Wikipedia.
How many goals did Michel Platini score for France?
41 goals in 72 caps between 1976 and 1987, with 49 appearances as captain. He was France's all-time record goalscorer until Thierry Henry passed him in 2007. His nine goals at Euro 1984 remain a benchmark for a single European Championship. Source: Wikipedia.
Was Michel Platini president of UEFA?
Yes. He was president of UEFA from January 26, 2007 to December 21, 2015. During his mandate he expanded the European Championship to 24 teams and launched the multi-country format used for Euro 2020, alongside the introduction of financial fair play. Sources: UEFA, Wikipedia.
Was Michel Platini convicted in the FIFA case?
No. He was acquitted. Swiss prosecutors accused him and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter over a payment of two million Swiss francs made to Platini in 2011 for past consultancy work, based on a verbal agreement. Both men were acquitted in July 2022, the acquittal was confirmed on appeal on March 25, 2025 under the principle in dubio pro reo, and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland then declined to appeal further, making it definitive. Sources: France 24, RTS, CBC.
Why was Michel Platini banned from football?
The FIFA Ethics Committee suspended him on December 21, 2015 over that same payment, a ban that ended his candidacy for the FIFA presidency and forced him out of UEFA. The original suspension was reduced on appeal and has since expired. The criminal proceedings that followed in Switzerland ended in acquittal. Sources: UEFA, Wikipedia, France 24.
Is Michel Platini going to run for FIFA president?
There is no declared candidacy. His name resurfaced in the French press in August 2026 in commentary about the strained relationship between UEFA and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with some columnists floating him as a possible successor. That is speculation from observers, not a statement of intent from Platini, and no FIFA election campaign is under way. Treat it as press debate, not news. Source: Le Monde commentary, August 2026.
What is Michel Platini doing now in 2026?
He holds no position at FIFA, UEFA, the French Football Federation or any professional club. His main public appearance of 2026 is a documentary: PLATINI, a six-part Canal+ series of 30-minute episodes written and directed by Guillaume Priou, in which he speaks at length for the first time. Episodes 1 to 3 air on Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 21:00, and episodes 4 to 6 on Sunday, August 30, on Canal+ and myCANAL. Sources: Canal+, Série-News.
Did Michel Platini coach the France national team?
Yes. He was manager of France from November 1988 to June 1992, taking charge of 29 matches for 16 wins, 8 draws and 5 defeats. France qualified for Euro 1992 unbeaten but went out in the group stage, and he stepped down afterwards. Source: Wikipedia.
Michel Platini is, by most reckonings, the greatest French footballer of the era before Zinedine Zidane. Born in Jœuf in Lorraine on June 21, 1955, the son of a coach, he came through at AS Nancy, moved to Saint-Étienne and then, at Juventus between 1982 and 1987, produced the run that defines him: three consecutive Ballons d’Or in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a sequence almost nobody in the history of the award has matched.
The single summer that fixed his reputation was 1984. Playing at home, France won the European Championship and Platini scored nine goals in five matches, a total that still looks implausible for an attacking midfielder in a five-game tournament. He finished with 41 goals in 72 caps for France, a national record that stood until Thierry Henry overtook it in 2007.
His second career was administrative and far more contested. He was president of UEFA from 2007 to 2015, expanding the European Championship to 24 teams and pushing the pan-continental format later used for Euro 2020. It ended abruptly in December 2015, when the FIFA Ethics Committee suspended him over a two million Swiss franc payment he had received from FIFA for earlier consultancy work, killing his campaign for the FIFA presidency. The criminal case that followed in Switzerland ended in his favour: acquitted alongside Sepp Blatter in July 2022, acquittal confirmed on appeal on March 25, 2025, and made definitive when Swiss federal prosecutors declined to take it further.
In 2026 he holds no role in football, at FIFA, UEFA, the French federation or any club, and he lives quietly in the Cassis area in the south of France. He returns to public view this month through PLATINI, a six-part Canal+ documentary directed by Guillaume Priou, broadcast in two blocks on Sunday, August 23 and Sunday, August 30, 2026 at 21:00. It traces the whole arc, from Jœuf to Saint-Étienne, Juventus and the upper reaches of football governance. Meanwhile his name circulates again in French commentary about the future of the FIFA presidency, though he has declared nothing and no election is under way. Sources: UEFA, Canal+, Série-News, France 24, RTS, Wikipedia.
