Former UEFA President Michel Platini detained in 2022 World Cup corruption probe

Former UEFA President Michel Platini has been detained for questioning in connection with a corruption investigation into the decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup, CNN reports.

Platini, who in 2015 was banned from football for four years over ethics violations after receiving $2 million from FIFA, has not been charged. But he was taken into custody as French prosecutors have been looking into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a decision that was made in 2010. A probe into possible conspiracy and influence-peddling has been ongoing since 2016, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Platini in 2015 said that he "might have told" officials from the United States he would vote for the U.S. to receive the 2022 World Cup, but he has said that a meeting with then French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatar’s crown prince less than two weeks prior to the vote did not influence his decision, The Associated Press reports.

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Sophie Dion, Sarkozy's sports adviser who was in attendance for the meeting in question, was also detained on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reports.

FIFA on Tuesday said that it is "concerning" to hear news of Platini's detainment and that it "reiterates its full commitment to cooperating with the authorities in any given country of the world where investigations are taking place in connection with football activities."