Platini Denies Being Given a Picasso Painting by Russia for World Cup Support

The controversy surrounding the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups shows no sign of slowing down.

The latest standout claim comes from The Sunday Times, which reported that UEFA President Michel Platini was given a lucrative gift for getting behind Russia's successful bid for the 2018 edition. 

Paul Gittings of CNN summarized the Times' report: 

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A painting, believed to be a Picasso, was allegedly gifted to Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president and FIFA executive member Michel Platini in return for his support for the eventually successful Russian bid for the 2018 global showpiece. 

Another FIFA voting member, Michel D'Hooghe, from Belgium, was also the recipient of a landscape painting, given to him in a package wrapped in brown paper by Viacheslav Koloskov, a former Russian executive committee member working for his nation's attempt to host the 2018 tournament, it is alleged in a report in The Sunday Times.

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Platini, a world-class player in his day who starred for Juventus and the French national team in the 1980s, has dismissed the report and has his lawyers on the case.

"Allegations in the Sunday Times relating to my actions in the 2018 and 2022 bidding processes are total fabrications," he said. "The matter has now been passed to my legal advisers."

The Sunday Times report also claims that Russian president Vladimir Putin got heavily involved in the campaign to get Russia the World Cup. 

Citing The Sunday Times report, Gittings described Putin's role in the controversy:

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'He (Putin) took a personal interest in the running of the bid in mid-2010,' the committee report reveals.

Under the heading, 'Intelligence relating to Russia 2018' a series of allegations are revealed about Putin's role in brokering a major bilateral trade deal for gas with Qatar, the winners of the 2022 bid, in exchange for each others votes and the votes of others of their supporters.

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[CNN]