PANDEMIC OF FOOTBALL", when UEFA ordered their 2019-20 Europa League round of 16 return leg be played behind closed doors, despite reduced capacity being allowed by the Danish government. Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, the then-president of UEFA, Michel Platini, was also involved in the case. Swiss prosecutors accused FIFA president Sepp Blatter of making a "disloyal payment" of $2m (£1.6m) to Mr Platini. Swiss attorney general, , stated: "We didn't interview Mr Platini as a witness, that's not true. We investigated against him in between as a witness and an accused person". Both Platini and Sepp Blatter were banned from football-related activity. Platini appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sports, which lowered the six-year ban to four years. He further appealed to Swiss courts and the European Court of Human Rights but the courts rejected his appeals. In 2019 UEFA's decision to host Europa League Cup final in Baku, Azerbaijan left one of the finalists, Arsenal, with a decision to withdraw their Armenian player Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of the competition due to safety concerns, and there has been long-standing debates about the extent to which the elite clubs or UEFA itself should exert the most influence on the game. UEFA's decision to partner with blockchain company Chiliz in February 2022 was criticised and described as 'incomprehensible' by fan groups across Europe. See also Resolutions Awards: The UEFA Plaque UEFA Club Football Awards UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award UEFA President's Award UEFA Team of the Year UEFA Jubilee Awards UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll UEFA Euro Teams of the Tournament UEFA EqualGame Award Qualifications: UEFA coefficient UEFA Fair Play ranking UEFA stadium categories Match: UEFA competitions UEFA Celebration Match UEFA congress UEFA congress Financial fair play UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations UEFA coefficient UEFA coefficient UEFA presidents List of presidents of UEFA Related links Timeline of football List of association football competitions International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL) Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Planned competitions Proposals for a European Super League in association football – A project for a sole pan-European Football League which UEFA executives have been involved Notes References External links Union of European Football Association, Soccerlens.com. Retrieved: 9 October 2010. NZ Streaming Partner –