The once-idolised Frenchman saw his career slide further into the dirt on Wednesday when his ban was reduced from eight to six years, rather than being scrapped
When the corruption allegations and FBI indictments rained down on FIFA like a biblical plague last year, Michel Platini was adamant that his position was unimpeachable.
Nine years in charge of UEFA with one of the few bribe-free résumés in world football had made him the heir apparent to FIFA's soiled crown.
"I am proud that UEFA has defended and supported a movement for change at FIFA," Platini remarked upon Sepp Blatter's resignation last June. "Change is crucial if this organisation is to regain its credibility."
The Frenchman never imagined back then that the “change” he so clamoured for would see him also removed from the corridors of power. With Blatter out of the picture, he had had every confidence that the FIFA crown was his.
After all, this is a man who was nicknamed Le Roi (The King) in his prime. He won the Ballon d'Or award for three consecutive years between 1983 and 1985 – Lionel Messi is the only other player to have achieved a hat trick of successive Golden Balls.
One of the greatest players to have never won a World Cup – another similarity he shares with Messi – Platini scored an incredible nine goals in five games to lead France to Euro '84 glory on home soil. He instantly became a national hero. Throughout his career as a prolific and artistic midfielder with Nancy, Saint-Etienne and, most memorably, Juventus, he was always at the centre of his team's creativity.
And like many legendary players, Platini flirted with coaching before getting his hands burnt. He coached France's national team from 1988 and won every single qualification match for the Euro 1992 tournament. There was no repeat of his Euro success eight years earlier, however, as they were eliminated in the group stage.
Platini left the touchline behind in 1992 and entered the world of politics by becoming co-chair of the 1998 World Cup organising committee as France hosted and then won its maiden Mundial.
From there, his road up the chain of command was assiduous and assured. He served as a technical advisor to Sepp Blatter following his FIFA presidential victory in 1998, became vice-president of France's football federation in 2001, and was named a UEFA executive committee member in 2002.
Taking all that into account, who could possibly argue against Platini taking charge of UEFA? When he became president of FIFA's European confederation in 2007, one major media outlet labeled him "the new king of European football" ... as if he'd ever been dethroned.
Thus, when Blatter was ousted last year, Platini was instantly installed as the overwhelming favorite amongst bookmakers to succeed his Swiss adversary as the ultimate FIFA chief.
But in September 2015, his footballing royalty status was put at risk when Swiss prosecutors alleged that he had received a “disloyal payment” of $2 million (£1.3m) from Blatter.
FIFA – desperate to prove that the dark days from early 2015 were over – suspended the duo for 90 days and had its ethics committee investigate them. Both were found guilty of ethical violations and banned from all football activity for eight years.
Booted from the sport he had devoted his life to, Platini raged against the "farcical allegations" which were "designed to crush my candidacy for the FIFA presidency." The Frenchman insists the 2011 payment he received was compensation for his work as Blatter's advisor at the turn of the millennium.
Platini's right-hand man at UEFA, general secretary Gianni Infantino, is now the favorite to take the reins at FIFA headquarters when the election is held on Feb. 26. Platini's FIFA dream is dead.
The Frenchman knows he's missed his shot, but his attitude is far from laissez faire. On Monday, after attending his appeal against his ban at FIFA's HQ in Zurich, he said: "I don't care if I'm politically finished in football. I want to fight injustice. I've done nothing and I'm not afraid of anything. If I had anything to reproach myself for, I would be hiding in Siberia in shame."
Platini failed to win over FIFA's appeal committee. On Wednesday, it partially upheld the original decision by reducing the eight-year ban to a six-year one.
There is no chance Platini will retreat to Siberia, though; the next step in his painful fall from grace is appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
He will be hoping CAS can swiftly restore him to UEFA for one major reason: Euro 2016. Platini was the star of the show when France last held the Euros in 1984 and he helped mastermind their hosting of World Cup 1998. But, as it stands, Platini only has the freedom to attend this summer's finals as a paying spectator having been cast out of the FIFA fraternity. No VIP areas, no television punditry and certainly no handing over of the Henri Delaunay Cup to the winning captain.
It will be a huge shame for one of the greatest players in history to end his career this way. For all fans who grew up watching this genius execute pin-point through passes, and delicately curl beautiful free kicks over the wall and into the top corner, it is like a dagger through the heart to see his legacy destroyed.
If he is to regain any dignity, he must stop crying foul and accept that, even if he is telling the truth, he is a fool for thinking that accepting a $2 million (£1.3m) payment without paperwork wouldn't come back to haunt him. History has proven that men in power so often believe they're untouchable, and Platini is the latest figure to prove this adage true.
And who is to say FIFA is wrong? It's hardly an organisation with a renowned moral compass, and yet its ethics committee accused Platini of failing to act with "credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties, concomitant obligations and responsibilities".
Platini has no God-given right to run UEFA or FIFA, and both bodies are not any worse off without him. Once CAS reaches its verdict – regardless of what that verdict is – it's time for Le Roi to hang up his suit jacket beside his boots.
- Goal