Platini speaks out on 'gentlemen's agreement'

Zurich - Michel Platini says he had no written contract for the $2 million payment from FIFA in 2011.

Risking further ethics sanctions by breaking confidentiality rules, Platini tells French daily Le Monde that the extra pay for his job advising FIFA President Sepp Blatter from 1998-2002 was "a thing between two men."

On Friday, Blatter told a Swiss broadcaster the deal being investigated by Swiss prosecutors as a "disloyal payment" from FIFA funds was a "gentlemen's agreement."

Platini and Blatter are appealing against their 90-day suspensions.

The FIFA ethics committee has in recent cases imposed strict bans when soccer officials discussed their cases in the media.

Platini tells Le Monde "it's shameful to be dragged through the mud."