UEFA head Michel Platini on Thursday hit back at criticism by English Premier League chief Dave Richards, saying European football's governing body was "not a gang". Richards last week launched a blistering attack on both UEFA and FIFA, accusing them of "stealing" football from the English. He later apologised for his remarks, which he said had intended to be "light-hearted", but the damage had been done.
"I read in an English media outlet he was going to send an email - maybe the email got lost in the corridors of UEFA but I never saw it," Platini said in reference to Richards' vow to send a letter of apology for his outburst. "What he said was slightly surprising," added the Frenchman. "He said football was stolen from England and that a gang has done this. We are not a gang at UEFA and the English are so generous they have given football to the entire planet. "Football now belongs to the whole world and I want to thank England for their gift to the world."
England are still angry over the doomed multi-million-dollar bid to stage the 2018 World Cup, which was awarded to Russia, and Richards had suggested that his own country's contribution to the game has been neglected. "England gave the world football," Richards said while attending the International Sport Security Conference in Doha on March 14. "We wrote the rules, designed the pitches and everything else. Then 50 years later, some guy came along and said you're liars and they stole it. It was called FIFA. "Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more."
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