Platini Admits World Cup 1998 Was Fixed for France to Face Brazil in Final

French legend and ex-head of UEFA says France 1998 World Cup draw was rigged to ensure dream final - and claims other tournaments have been doctored too.

Michel Platini was booted out of FIFA and UEFA after revelations he had received a “disloyal payment” of £1.35million ($1.82m) from disgraced world boss Sepp Blatter, The Sun reported.

But the midfield ace, France boss between 1988 and 1992, has admitted he was involved in a plot to ensure the 1998 host could not meet favorite Brazil until the final.

FIFA has long agreed that the host nation should be given a pre-draw seeding spot while the other seven seeds for the first 32-team tournament were allocated on a calculation mixing the world rankings with performances at the three previous World Cups.

FIFA regulations for the competition stated that the seeds should be randomly assigned at the finals draw, which took place inside the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles.

But Platini, who had been appointed co-president of the World Cup Organizing Committee in 1992, pressed for a change that would allow France and Brazil to be kept apart until the ultimate showpiece.

The former midfield star was to become a close ally of Blatter and his predecessor Joao Havelange before FIFA’s house of cards came crashing down in 2015, taking him with it as he was forced out of his role as president of UEFA.

Platini, speaking in a French radio interview, confessed: “When we organized the calendar, we did a little trickery.”