Michel Platini says Sepp Blatter no longer serves football

Michel Platini has criticised Sepp Blatter, saying the FIFA president has stopped serving the interests of football.

“Sepp is not the president of FIFA anymore. He is FIFA,” the UEFA president, Platini, whose book “Let’s Talk About Football” was released this week,  told L’Equipe.

“Platini, Pelé, Blatter, [the former FIFA president João] Havelange must yield to the interests of football. One must not use football, but serve football.”

There has been speculation that Platini, a one-time supporter of Blatter, would stand against his former ally for the FIFA presidency, but the Frenchman says the time was not right.

“It was not the time. I do not regret anything. One day maybe. We will see,” he said.

The former France great, who led Les Bleus to their Euro 1984 title, was re-elected as UEFA’s president in 2011. He is expected to stand again for the presidency in 2015.