Michel Platini looking to salvage his FIFA presidency bid by explaining £1.35m payment from Sepp Blatter four years ago

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Michel Platini was paid £1.35m for consultancy work in 2011
UEFA president says it was for work for Sepp Blatter from 1999 to 2002
If Platini is suspended, his FIFA candidature will be in tatters

Published: 16:30 EST, 27 September 2015 | Updated: 04:25 EST, 28 September 2015

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Michel Platini's deteriorating hopes of becoming the next president of FIFA rest on his explanation on Monday about the extraordinary £1.35million payment made to him by Sepp Blatter for consultancy work done nine years previously.

The Frenchman will meet his advisors in Nyon early on Monday before contacting the 54 UEFA countries to update them on the latest momentous developments in the FIFA corruption saga that has implicated Platini for the first time.

Before making a media statement, the UEFA president will also speak to the body overseeing next February's FIFA election - for which he was hot favourite to win before being tarnished by revelations of him accepting a seven-figure payment for his technical advice to FIFA president Blatter from 1999 to 2002 for which there are allegations he had already been paid. The payment arrived from Blatter in 2011, three months before he stood unopposed for election.

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Michel Platini (left) and Sepp Blatter are two of football's most powerful men and they both face suspension

Blatter (left) is under suspicion for a £1.35million 'disloyal payment' to UEFA president Platini

Most keen to hear Platini's version of events will be the FIFA ethics committee, who are launching their own investigation and have the power to order a suspension that would kybosh Platini's FIFA ambitions.

The world of football is suspending judgement on Platini until there is more clarity. He is currently only a witness and it is Blatter who is facing criminal proceedings. But Platini could be the biggest loser as Blatter, who is seemingly adopting a scorched earth policy to bring his FIFA enemies down with him, is already a dead man walking.

A Platini suspension would no doubt lead to Asian football's two biggest powerbrokers - Sheik Salman and Sheik Ahmad al-Sabah - withdrawing their pivotal support, which was crucial to Platini declaring his FIFA candidature.

It would also embarrass the FA, who pledged premature backing of Platini after a selective ring-around of directors by chairman Greg Dyke but without full board discussion. An FA board meeting on Wednesday will be lively on this subject.

Platini (right) claims that the payment in 2011 was for work done for Blatter from 1999 until 2002

World Cup referee Nigel Owens is concerned about showing his support for Wales so he watched his country's victory over England with Welsh fans just behind the Twickenham media tribune loudly singing Bread of Heaven.

World Cup referee Nigel Owens watched their Wales over England just behind the Twickenham media tribune

RFU chief sweating, too

It is not just beleaguered England head coach Stuart Lancaster and his assistants whose jobs will on the line if the national rugby team follow football and cricket by exiting their respective World Cups at the group stage.

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie staked his tenure on giving Lancaster & Co six-year contracts before the tournament when it made far more sense to wait and see how a World Cup on home soil went. As Ritchie said himself at the Soccerex Conference in Manchester only three weeks ago: 'I think you're the one that takes responsibility for it, because, if you're the chief executive, you have to look at that. I appointed Stuart, I was the one who believed he was the right person for the job. We are in here to try and win the event. We will worry about the hypotheticals afterwards.' That might be as early as Saturday night.

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie is set to face questions if England fail to get out of the World Cup pools

lt will be a considerable concern for the RFU that Eventmasters, one of their official licensed operators to provide hospitality at Twickenham, have been caught out during a specialist World Cup surveillance operation putting on unofficial hospitality at Richmond College with clients, who have bought their packages, refused entry at the stadium gates. Eventmasters won their Twickenham status despite former boss Mark Sheasby serving a three-year jail sentence for VAT fraud. Sheasby says on Linkedin that he is back working for Eventmasters as a consultant.

The Rugby League fraternity vented their fury when Sports Agenda reported the absurdity of Old Trafford hosting the Grand Final on the same day, October 10, as the Etihad Stadium staging England's final rugby World Cup group game against Uruguay - after Manchester United reneged on a promise to host three RWC games. The M6 corridor crowd will certainly be crowing again about the superiority of their code if the bells and whistles of the Grand Final showcase clashes only with the humiliation of an England dead rubber in Manchester.