'Well-educated' Platini refuses to return CBF's 16,000-pound gift watch

UEFA President Michel Platini has insisted that he would not return a watch worth 16,000 pounds that was given to him by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

FIFA has asked officials to return the watches handed out at the World Cup as football's governing body claims the gifts break its code of ethics. But Platini said that he is a well-educated person and does not return gifts.

Platini also said that FIFA knew the items were being handed out in June and questioned why it only acted now. The watches were given by one of the CBF's sponsors to 32 association chiefs, 28 FIFA executive committee members and five other members of South American associations, The BBC reported.

Platini said that if the FIFA ethics committee was not pleased, they should have informed them that four months ago in Brazil, when they received the watches.

The Frenchman added that he was extremely surprised, first of all, by knowing the value of the watch as he did not realise it was that expensive. Secondly, he said that he was very surprised by the press release of FIFA.

Platini said that he thinks that the best thing would have been to call them, to say that the ethics committee has done 'so and so' and FIFA is not pleased. He added that because there is an article in the British press, all of a sudden FIFA says that they need to return the watches.

Several officials did report the watches to the ethics committee and Football Association chairman Greg Dyke and FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce have since said that they will return the gifts.

Dyke, who had put the watch in a bag earmarked for charity, said he was unaware of the value of the gift and would have liked FIFA to have stepped in and taken action in Brazil.

Dyke said that FIFA should have looked and said that these are 16,000 pounds watches and they cannot give them out.

Frenchman Platini added that this watch is a gift and it is not actually the watch he is wearing today; it is a gift he received.

Platini said that he is going to ask for the value of this watch and he is going to give to a charitable organisation, a foundation, that value. But, he added that he cannot return a gift as in his upbringing, he cannot return gifts like that.