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Michel Platini: FIFA 98 World Cup schedule was fixed so France couldn't meet Brazil until final
Platini explained that a little trick prevented France and Brazil from clashing before the final match which was won by the French side.
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French ex-international and former UEFA president, Michel Platini has revealed that the French Organizing Committee “did a little trick” to prevent France from meeting Brazil until the end of the France 98 world cup.
Platini made this known on a radio sports show, Stade Bleu Sunday, on Friday, May 18, 2018.
A short clip of the video was posted by France Blue Sports on Twitter on May 18, 2018.
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In the short clip, Platini explained that a little trick prevented France and Brazil from clashing before the final match which was won by the French side.
"When we organized the calendar, we did a little trickery," says the former co-president of the French Organizing Committee of the World Cup 1998.
Continuing, he said: "If we finished first in the group and Brazil finished first, we could not meet before the final."
How the trick was done during the draws
As reported by France Blue Sports, in 1997, Brazil and France were among the eight seeds in the draw; Brazil as title holder, France as the host country.
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These seeds had to be randomly distributed among the groups via the draw, according to the rule then enacted by FIFA.
The move was deplored by Fernand Sastre, the other co-president of the CFO.
However, two seeded countries were strategically meant to benefit from a pre-allocation in a group, before the draw: Brazil and France.
The countries were respectively placed in group A and in group C and this made any confrontation between the two countries impossible, until the final of July 12, 1998.
Platini said: “We did not get bored for six years to organize the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans.
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"You think that the others did not do it for their World Cup France-Brazil in the final, it was the dream of everyone.”
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