Platini: "Messi exceed my three Golden Balls"

The Frenchman Michel Platini, now president of UEFA, said Tuesday that Messi "get over" his record of "three consecutive Golden Balls," which has held since his days as a Juventus player.

"Messi (which has two Golden Balls) will surpass my record. I did the best I could, but times have changed: he came to Barcelona with 13 years, I only Juventus with 27," he said in an interview to the newspaper Italian sports La Gazzetta dello Sport 'before receiving the award' Facchetti-The beauty of football ', which delivers this journal.

Platini, 56, was highly critical of Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, who said he "rejected the idea" of arbitrators goal, "because it was not his idea."

"Football must be human, not technological. The arbitrators should be helped when they are wrong. After 40 years of life dedicated to football I thought that an arbitrator is not enough, and two assistants behind the goal can help," he said.

"The experiment" of putting two goal referees who "existed in the 20's in Spain," he said, was introduced first in the group stage of the Europa League in 2009, and until now, "goes well" , as acknowledged in 'La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Economic viability
football leader proclaimed that there should be a "financial fair play" between the clubs and banks, because otherwise, "Many teams would disappear or be ruined." "European football has lost millions. The banks have to stop lending money to millionaires while people are dying of hunger. Financial fair play has an ethical value," he said.

However, UEFA said it could not do much to remedy this situation because "the income in each country were different and depended on national law."

Platini also insisted that football is "first and foremost a game," and must "return" to its essence as a sport and not as a business, because that "children who do not fall for the ball to them."

Illegal gambling
The exfutbolista described as "tremendous" the problem of illegal betting and reloaded against countries for "doing law" about it.

"The stakes are a tremendous thing worse than racism or violence, which are two issues unrelated to football. To bet on an outcome, you have to have two accomplices, or players or the referee," said Maradona.

Platini concluded refuting the idea that there is doping in football, as no sport has "many controls" like this.