Michel Platini Files Lawsuit Against FIFA Citing 'Slanderous Denunciation'

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has filed a lawsuit against FIFA for alleged "slanderous denunciation" and "criminal conspiracy to commit the offense of slanderous denunciation" in relation to the ban the governing body gave him in 2015. 

Platini's communications team confirmed the news to the Associated Press' Samuel Petrequin. French newspaper Le Monde (h/t Petrequin) reported the specifics of the complaint.

Platini was banned for alleged financial misconduct regarding a payment authorised by then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Swiss federal prosecutors confirmed in May that the Frenchman will not be charged, and Platini has argued he was the victim of a conspiracy to make sure he didn't win the FIFA presidency after Blatter's departure.

Blatter and Platini were among the most high-profile casualties of the FIFA corruption case, with both receiving eight-year suspensions from the sport in December 2015, per Sam Borden of the New York Times. Platini has fought that decision since and managed to get the suspension reduced to four years in May 2016 after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He subsequently resigned as UEFA president after the ban was not thrown out entirely.

Platini became a global star with Juventus between 1982 and 1987. He won two Serie A titles and the European Cup with the Bianconeri and also guided France to a UEFA European Championships title in 1984.