Former UEFA president Michel Platini took aim at Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain as he criticised the vast wealth controlling football.

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• Platini hits out at money in football
• Cites PSG and Man City
• says enemies took 10 years from him

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Abu Dhabi and Qatari owned clubs have rocketed to the top of world football in recent years, both winning the Champions League in the last three years thanks to their lavish spending. Ex-France star Platini feels the "philosophy of football" has been killed off because of the massive amounts of money such big teams are spending to remain competitive.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Platini cited the Bosman ruling, a 1995 case that resulted in players being allowed to leave clubs for free at the end of their contract, as the beginning of the end for the game. He told : "I've always looked at the player and the game, I've never been interested in anything else. The Bosman law, however, killed the philosophy of football: today to win you have to have money, just look at how the stories of City and PSG have changed."

• AFP
  

  TELL ME MORE

  The 1984 European Championship and three-time Ballon d'Or winner was this year acquitted for a second time of charges of fraud from his period in charge of UEFA.

  "I came out clean, but my enemies won anyway. In any case, they stole ten years from me," he said to .

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  WHAT NEXT?

  The ex-Juventus and Saint-Etienne player will turn 70 years old on Saturday. Asked about his future, he said: "I don't see it: I've never seen the future. Not even as a footballer. I've always accepted fate."

Tags: Futebol
Category: News