FIFA is to take legal action by the end of the year to force Michel Platini to return two million Swiss francs (USD 2 million, 1.84 million euros) he received during Sepp Blatter's reign at world football's governing body.
FIFA banned Platini, its then vice president, in 2015 over the payment he received, sparking years of bitter recriminations from the Frenchman and a falling out with his former ally Blatter.
In a document seen by AFP on Wednesday, FIFA said it would take action "to recover the money illegally paid by the former President of FIFA to the former Vice President of FIFA."
FIFA said it planned to sue Blatter at the same time and would be seeking "interest at the appropriate rate" and "disciplinary fines and costs... both ordered but not paid."
The Frenchman subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which reduced his suspension to four years while ruling that it "was not convinced by the legitimacy of the payment, which was only recognised by Mr. Platini and Mr. Blatter."
- 'Harassment' -
He wrote that the move amounted to "harassment" just as "the illegal manoeuvres" against Platini by "certain FIFA protagonists... is the subject of an investigation in Switzerland."
"This payment was validated by all of the financial control bodies of FIFA, external and domestic."