Luis Figo has come out in support of suspended UEFA president Michel Platini and says he fully trusts the former France international.
Platini is suspended for 90 days as FIFA s Ethics Committee investigate a payment he received from world football s governing body in 2011.
The three-time Ballon d Or winner has claimed the transfer of £1.35million was for work he undertook between 1998 and 2002 for FIFA, whose president Sepp Blatter is also suspended for 90 days.
Platini s ban has seen him ruled out of the running to replace Blatter at next year s FIFA presidential elections, but Figo – himself a candidate before withdrawing from a separate election earlier this year – believes the Frenchman remains a credible alternative to the Swiss.
My support is based on my personal convictions, Figo said. I think he supported me when I said I was running [for FIFA president] and I fully trust him, and his ideas.
A new generation is necessary to bring back the transparency and democracy that should exist in the organisation.
With Platini – and Musa Bility – having been removed from the race for president there are now five candidates in the running to replace Blatter in February Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino and Tokyo Sexwale.
