In less than 48 hours, the Olympic football tournament begins, two days before the official opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the Blues playing their first group match in Marseille against the United States (kick-off Wednesday at 9 p.m.). Asked about his interest in the upcoming competition, Michel Platini could not be more frank: ” No more than that ” he breathes.
If the Olympic Games naturally pique his curiosity as a former icon of French sport – ” I’m still waiting for them (the Olympic Games, editor’s note). It’s a wonderful moment of conviviality, a wonderful moment of sport, where the public gathers around the athletes. » – Michel Platini does not hide his lack of enthusiasm in the face of the Olympic adaptation of his favorite discipline: «
I’m not interested in the French Olympic team. Football is not an Olympic sport. »
“It’s of no interest…”
In this interview with Midi Libre, the man who chaired UEFA for eight years (2007-2015) believes that football has become an Olympic sport because it ” fills the stadium
“. ” Football is the most popular sport, that’s all. “, a Michel Platini who in 1992, in Albertville, had the honor of being the last bearer of the Olympic flame.
And to put forward one more argument to justify his relative disinterest in football during the Olympic period. FIFA never wanted the best to come. We are entitled to a B, C, D team… It is of no interest. “This while ensuring that we understand the position of the clubs refusing to release their players for the event: ” Clubs cannot pay players who are at the Euro for a month and then another month for the Olympics. It is not possible “, he concludes.
