A high-profile victim of football glory

There were times when Michel Platini played brilliant football. People in their late 30s may remember vaguely how they used to idolise him. Those in their 40s have a clearer memory of why his name was often associated with the word “classic”. For those older than 50, what has befallen one of the world’s greatest footballers is simply tragic, yet prob?ably underlining the downside of the world’s most popular sport. 

His fall from grace can be painful to watch, but his story and the like aren’t unthinkable. Sporting fame always comes with a big price that may not seem like a “price” at first. Money and adoration can help keep one in the game, as they are things that nobody wants to lose. Many great athletes manage to maintain their excellence because they want to keep hold of all the “rewards”.  Others, and there are plenty of them, are not that lucky.  

Money and glory can lead one down a destructive path if one is not careful. They brought Michael Platini to where he is now – disgraced by scandals that threaten to nullify all his superb moments on the pitch. When today’s kids read the news, they don't get much about how awesome Michel Platni used to be. Rather, what has been said about him lately largely involves alleged irregularities, controversial lobbying and a lot other things that are bad about football at the highest administrative level.

He had been head of the Union of European Football Associations from 2007 until recently. More importantly perhaps, a younger Michel Platini was considered one of the best footballers of all time. He came sixth in the FIFA’s “Player of the Century” vote. He was shoulder-to-shoulder with Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten on European honours. He was a European championship top scorer. The list of his on-the-field success and honours goes on and on.

We can do a little survey. We can ask, say, a hundred boys what 

they want between chairing a football governing body and scoring decisive goals in the most crucial games before the whole world. All boys would choose the latter, without fail.

The young Platini would have chosen the same. But he didn’t have to, actually. What other boys can only do in their wildest dreams, he did for real. In fact, he scored more dream goals than any other boy could have imagined.

It was the time when football, to Platini, wasn’t about money. It was the time when nothing else mattered but for the ball to hit the back of the net. It was the time when you wouldn’t trade an overhead screamer that found the top corner in the last minute of a big game for a million dollars.

That time has passed for Platini, but thanks to YouTube, anyone can still see how good the young man was. There are not many things related to the current FIFA upheaval on YouTube, though. It leaves an intriguing question of what really defines Platini – the amazing goals he scored or the contentious money he allegedly took.

To be fair to the Frenchman, investigation is still going on, and the large amount of money he has been associated with could still be honest money, after all. His story, however, remains a cautionary tale all the same. Football as a game is cruel enough, but as a player Michel Platini went through it brilliantly and beautifully. The same can’t be said about administering football, though, as one of the game’s most decorated player has learned first-hand.