Sepp Blatter has claimed Uefa president Michel Platini threatened his brother that the Fifa president would end up in jail unless he stepped down

Sepp Blatter has claimed Uefa president Michel Platini threatened his brother that the Fifa president would end up in jail unless he stepped down

Blatter was re-elected as Fifa president in May against a backdrop of FBI corruption indictments, then surprised the footballing world by announcing his resignation a few days later.

A new Fifa election has been announced for February 2016 and former France international Platini has emerged as the frontrunner to replace his Swiss counterpart.
But Blatter has alleged that Platini has been playing dirty behind the scenes by intimidating the Fifa chief's 80-year-old sibling, Peter Blatter, at the electoral congress two days before May's election.
"Platini was at lunch with my brother, sat at a table with him," Blatter told De Volkskrant . "He told him: 'Sepp must withdraw before the election or he will go to jail.'"
An anonymous eyewitness told the newspaper that Blatter's brother burst into tears at Platini's comments, though the Frenchman's comments did not come to pass as no criminal charges have been levelled at the Fifa chief.

Platini has refused to comment on the allegations, although a source close to the Uefa head stated: "This false story is the latest in a series of attempts in Zurich to distract the world from the true problems Fifa are facing.
"The president of Uefa has chosen not to respond to these riduculous allegations. Platini is right now more concerned with preparing a programme that can help Fifa clean up its image and reputation."