October 25, 2011: UEFA President Platini Criticizes Swiss Club for Involving Civil Courts in Dispute

UEFA president Michel Platini criticizes the Swiss club FC Sion for involving civil courts in a dispute between it and the football authorities over a transfer ban (see August 3, 2011 and October 17, 2011). “If tomorrow you receive a red card on the pitch and you go to a judge because you cannot play in the next match, and the judge says you are right, what can we do?” Platini tells the French broadcaster RTL. “Everything must depend on the [Court of Arbitration for Sport]. Today, we have in principle an independent disciplinary process in the federations, in UEFA, in FIFA. If nobody respects its decisions and goes before civil courts, now that justice today moves slowly, I ask myself how this could happen. What do we do if a club relegated to the second division go to a court because they have a first division budget and want to stay there?” The Court of Arbitration for Sport has just set a date for a hearing in the case. [Press Association (London), 10/25/2011]