Platini: The downfall of man who would have been FIFA king (II)
The seeds of Platini's downfall had been sown years earlier. Having helped Blatter get elected in 1998, the Frenchman was intrinsically linked to FIFA’s old guard. He advised his mentor up until 2002, the reason, according to them both, for that fateful £1.3m payment he subsequently received in 2011, and which ultimately led to his demise.
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The fact the payment was made just four months before Blatter was due to face rival Mohamed Bin Hammam in the presidential election, and that Platini backed Blatter, did him no favours.
Michel Platini
Platini was last year found guilty of ethics breaches, while Beckenbauer is currently under investigation amid vote-buying allegations.
Platini had been a member of Fifa's corruption-plagued executive committee since 2002, and his vote for Qatar (especially after initially suggesting he would vote for the US) left many uneasy, especially amid suggestions he had been leaned on by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and the fact that his son Laurent headed up a Qatar-owned sports kit company.
Platini denied that either had anything to do with his decision, but it did not look good at a time when trust in FIFA was approaching an all-time low. His refusal to hand back a $25,000 watch given to him by the Brazilian football confederation only reinforced the view that Platini simply did not 'get it', and might be part of the problem, rather than the solution to it.
As Gianni Infantino, Platini's former number two at Uefa and the man who eventually did replace Blatter, presides over the first meeting of the new Fifa council - and its full congress later this week - he may reflect on the demise of his old friend, and the lessons he can learn.
With criminal investigations in the US and Switzerland continuing, and FIFA's 'victim status' in the eyes of the US Department of Justice thought to be dependent on a crucial package of reforms being implemented, Infantino knows the organisation he now leads - along with its regional confederations - must now prove it has moved on from the era dominated by Blatter and Platini - or its very existence could be on the line.
The fact that Infantino has expressed his "sadness" at Platini's ban being upheld, and swerved a question from the Associated Press agency over whether he would now look to reclaim the £1.3m that Platini received, shows how difficult the so-called 'new FIFA' finds it to truly break from the past.
Platini will always have his playing career. No one can take away from him those days when, as the key member of the France midfield's 'carre magique' (magic square), he inspired his country to European Championship glory in 1984 with that incredible record tally of nine goals in five matches.
But 32 years on, as France prepares to host the tournament again, his mistakes - and his sheer inability to accept them as such - mean that rather than presiding over the action in an official role as he had so wished, he will be reduced to that of mere spectator.
Platini can continue to deny any wronging. He can appeal against the decision by Cas through the Swiss courts and rage against what he says is a "deep injustice". He fought and battled as a player. He does so again now. He knows no other way.
Maybe the system dictated that Platini had to behave the way he did to have any chance of replacing Blatter one day. And perhaps Blatter ensured that such a succession would never happen once Platini turned against him. But ultimately it does not matter.
The parallels with Franz Beckenbauer - currently under investigation amid vote-buying allegations surrounding Germany's bid for the 2006 World Cup - another footballing great-turned-statesman of the game, are obvious.
At a time when football is crying out for more former stars to play a role in the future governance of the game, these two fallen idols serve as an especially painful lesson.
bbc.com