FIFA’s appeals committee has upheld all soccer-related activity bans on Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.
However, the suspensions have been reduced from eight to six years.
Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s outgoing president, and UEFA President Michel Platini were found guilty of breaches surrounding a $2 million “disloyal payment” to Platini.
They both deny any wrongdoing and have said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sepp Blatter, 79, and Michel Platini, 60, said the payment honored a verbal or gentleman’s agreement made in 1998 for work carried out by the Frenchman when he was a technical advisor for Blatter.
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Swiss Sepp Blatter said in a statement that he was “very disappointed by the appeal committee of FIFA”.
Michel Platini said it was “insulting and shameful” and a “political decision”.
The committee said “activities and services rendered to FIFA, UEFA and football” was a mitigating factor.
FIFA’s presidential election is due to take place on February 26 to find Sepp Blatter’s replacement.
Sepp Blatter had already announced he was quitting after reports emerged he was under investigation in the United States.
Michel Platini had been tipped as a future leader of soccer’s world governing body and is a three-time European Footballer of the Year.
In a statement released after the announcement, Michel Platini said the accusations were without foundation and completely made up “beyond reality”.
He said the communication of the decision was done with “an unbearable arrogance” and that Friday’s congress would be remembered in history with the “mark of illegitimacy”.
“I am the victim of a system which has only had one goal – to stop me standing for the president of FIFA,” Michel Platini added.
The decision not to overturn the suspensions follows a 12-year ban imposed on Jerome Valcke, who was sacked as secretary general of world football’s governing body last month.
Jerome Valcke, the man responsible for running FIFA’s day-to-day administration, was found guilty of misconduct over the sale of World Cup tickets, abuse of travel expenses, attempting to sell TV rights below their market value and destruction of evidence. He also denies wrongdoing.
Michel Platini has announced he will not stand in the FIFA presidential election in February.
The 60-year-old suspended UEFA president, along with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, has been banned from soccer-related activities for eight years by world football’s governing body.
Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter were found guilty of breaches surrounding a 2 million euro “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
The two men are appealing against their bans, but Michel Platini says the timing of the February 26 election means he cannot run.
“I’m withdrawing from the race for the FIFA presidency,” Michel Platini told the Associated Press.
“The timing is not good for me. I don’t have the means to fight on equal terms with the other candidates.
“I have not been given the chance to play the game. Bye bye FIFA, bye bye FIFA presidency.”
Michel Platini, president of European soccer’s governing body since 2007, had submitted his candidacy for the FIFA presidential election but could not stand while suspended.
He and Sepp Blatter, 79, plan to take their cases to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“I’ve spent more time in hearing rooms than on football pitches speaking about 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 or football news,” added Michel Platini.
“I’m taking this philosophically. Let’s wait and see what happens. But injustice is revolting me and I’m trying to fight it.”
Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter claimed the payment was honoring an agreement made in 1998 for work carried out between 1998 and 2002, when Platini worked as a technical adviser for Blatter.
FIFA’s ethics committee said there was “not sufficient evidence” to establish the payment was a bribe, but both men demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
“I can’t have any regret in that story because things fell upon my head while I haven’t done anything wrong,” added Michel Platini.
“I’m struggling to understand what happened, unless there was a will somewhere to prevent me from bidding.”
There are five candidates to succeed Sepp Blatter, who has been FIFA president since 1998:
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa – 50, Bahrain, president of Asian Football Confederation;
Tokyo Sexwale – 62, South Africa, politician, businessman and former political prisoner;
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein – 40, Jordan, a former FIFA vice-president and 2015 FIFA presidential candidate;
Gianni Infantino – 45, Switzerland, UEFA general secretary and a member of FIFA’s reform committee;
Jerome Champagne – 57, France, a former FIFA assistant general secretary and former French diplomat.
Voting will take place by secret ballot, with all FIFA’s 209 member states having a vote each.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have been suspended for eight years from all soccer-related activities following an ethics investigation.
The FIFA and UEFA heads were found guilty of breaches surrounding a 2 million euro “disloyal payment” made to Michel Platini in 2011.
The FIFA ethics committee found Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini had demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
“I will fight for me and for FIFA,” Sepp Blatter, 79, said at a news conference.
Michel Platini said the decision was a “masquerade” intended to “dirty” his name.
Both men continue to deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Photo Getty Images
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, 60, have also been fined $50,000 and $80,000 respectively.
Despite the ban, both Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will be allowed to attend matches – including Euro 2016 in France – if they buy tickets in a private capacity.
FIFA boss since 1998, Sepp Blatter had already announced he was quitting with a presidential election in February.
Michel Platini was tipped as a future leader of football’s world governing body and is a three-time European Footballer of the Year.
He is also a former captain of France and has been in charge of UEFA – European soccer’s governing body – since 2007.
Unshaven and sporting a plaster over his right cheek, Sepp Blatter was in defiant mood at a news conference he had called in advance of the punishments being made public.
“I will fight,” he said.
“I will fight for me and for FIFA.”
Sepp Blatter said he was “really sorry” that he is still “a punching ball” and that he has become tainted in the eyes of humanity.
He added that he thought he had convinced the FIFA ethics tribunal that the payment from FIFA to Michel Platini was legitimate.
He plans to appeal, first to FIFA, then CAS. He may also take legal action under Swiss law if needed.
“The decision is no surprise to me,” he said in a statement.
“The procedure initiated against me by FIFA’s ethics committee is a pure masquerade.
“It has been rigged to tarnish my name by bodies I know well and who for me are bereft of all credibility or legitimacy.”
In the meantime, UEFA has issued a statement, revealing it is “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
It added: “Once again, UEFA supports Michel Platini’s right to a due process and the opportunity to clear his name.”
Michel Platini has failed in his bid to have his 90-day provisional suspension from soccer lifted.
UEFA president’s request was denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on December 11, which means Michel Platini will not be allowed to attend the Euro 2016 finals draw in Paris on December 12.
Michel Platini, 60, was suspended along with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in October while corruption claims are investigated.
Both deny any wrongdoing.
Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter will have personal hearings with FIFA’s ethics committee next week, following allegations that a 2 million euro payment was made in 2011 for work Platini did as Blatter’s adviser.
A verdict is expected on December 21.
Ethics investigators for football’s world governing body, who handed down the initial 90-day suspension, have recommended a life ban for Michel Platini.
Sepp Blatter has announced he will stand down from his post, and FIFA’s next president will be chosen at a special congress on February 26, 2016.
Michel Platini is one of the favorites to replace Sepp Blatter and still plans to stand.
FIFA has rejected president Sepp Blatter and vice-president Michel Platini’s appeals against their 90-day suspensions.
Sepp Blatter and Michele Platini were suspended in October while the world soccer governing body’s ethics committee investigates corruption claims against them.
Sepp Blatter, 79, is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to Michel Platini.
Both deny wrongdoing and could appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was also suspended in October but there was no mention of him in today’s FIFA statement.
The adjudicatory panel of FIFA’s ethics committee is due to hold hearings into the misconduct charges before Christmas.
Former France captain and current UEFA chief Michel Platini – who wants to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president – has said the 2millio euros payment was “valid compensation” from his time working under the Swiss more than nine years earlier.
They insist there was an oral agreement for the payment in 1998, although it was not made until 2011.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were suspended after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, who has been FIFA president since 1998.
The ethics committee also opened an inquiry into Michel Platini over the payment.
Michel Platini’s suspension means his bid to succeed Sepp Blatter has had to be put on hold. He is one of seven candidates for the presidential election on February 26 but no integrity check will be carried out until his case is resolved.
Sepp Blatter was discharged from hospital last week after what was described as a “small emotional breakdown”.
Earlier this year, US authorities indicted 14 FIFA officials and associates on bribery and racketeering charges. A simultaneous Swiss investigation was started into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
FIFA has confirmed that seven candidates will stand in its presidential election on February 26, 2016.
The candidates are:
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, 39, president of the Jordan Football Association
Musa Bility, 48, president of the Liberian Football Association
Jerome Champagne, 57, former FIFA executive
Gianni Infantino, 45, UEFA’s general secretary
Michel Platini, 60, is UEFA president and FIFA vice-president
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, 49, Asian Football Confederation president
Tokyo Sexwale, 62, former South Africa’s government minister
Trinidadian ex-soccer player David Nakhid was not included on the list, despite saying he had submitted his candidacy.
The election is to find a successor to the suspended Sepp Blatter, who is under criminal investigation.
Sepp Blatter, 79, announced he would be stepping down in June, with world soccer’s governing body at the centre of a corruption scandal.
Michel Platini, the head of European soccer’s governing body, is also suspended, but FIFA’s electoral committee says it may allow him to stand if his ban ends before the election date.
FIFA and Swiss prosecutors are investigating reports that a 2 million euros payment was made in 2011 for work Michel Platini did as Sepp Blatter’s adviser.
Both Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter deny any wrongdoing and are appealing against their 90-day bans.
Under FIFA electoral rules, all candidates had to obtain the written backing of five soccer associations.
Sepp Blatter has revealed he had a “gentleman’s agreement” with Michel Platini over the 2 million euro payment he made to the UEFA president in 2011.
The 79-year-old FIFA president faces a criminal investigation over the payment, made nine years after Michel Platini, 60, carried out consultation work for the Swiss.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini deny any wrongdoing.
“It was a contract I had with Michel Platini, a gentleman’s agreement that was followed through on,” Sepp Blatter told Swiss broadcaster RROTV.
Soccer’s world governing body FIFA has imposed a 90-day suspension on Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini while corruption claims concerning the payment are investigated.
Former France international captain and coach Michel Platini says the money was an unpaid additional salary due from the time he served as Sepp Blatter’s advisor between 1998 and 2002.
Following a UEFA meeting on October 15, the Football Association (FA) suspended its support for Michel Platini’s bid to become FIFA president “until the legal process has been concluded and the position is clear”.
UEFA issued a statement saying Micehl Platini should be given the opportunity “to clear his name” and urged the FIFA ethics committee to conclude its investigation by mid-November.
The FIFA presidential election is scheduled to take place on February 26, 2016.
Meanwhile, FIFA says it will investigate “very serious allegations” that a 6.7 million euro payment was made to it by Germany’s 2006 World Cup organizing committee.
The bid, led by former World Cup-winning captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer, edged out favorites South Africa in the July 2000 vote to win the hosting rights for the 2006 tournament.
FIFA said the allegations would be reviewed “as part of the independent internal investigation currently being conducted by FIFA under the direction of its legal director with the assistance of outside counsel”.
Germany’s Football Association is also investigating the payment, saying it had found no indication of wrongdoing in the overall bid process but that the payment “may potentially not have been used for the intended purpose”.
FIFA Vice-president Michel Platini is appealing after the soccer’s world governing body banned him for 90 days while corruption claims are investigated.
Michel Platini, 60, has been suspended along with FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Secretary General Jerome Valcke. They all deny wrongdoing.
The former soccer star is the French Football Association’s preference to succeed Sepp Blatter at FIFA presidency.
The French FA wants the Court of Arbitration for Sport to intervene to ensure Michel Platini can stand for election.
FIFA’s ethics committee began its investigation after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter in September.
Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to Michel Platini.
Photo Getty Images
The ethics committee also opened an inquiry into Michel Platini over the 2 million euros payment, which was made nine years after the Frenchman carried out consultation work for Sepp Blatter.
FIFA will hold an emergency meeting on October 20 in Zurich to discuss February’s presidential election, at which a successor to Sepp Blatter will be chosen.
Michel Platini, UEFA’s president since 2007, has been backed by South America’s soccer confederation (CONMEBOL) following his suspension.
CONMEBOL said Michel Platini should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.
The French Football Federation (FFF) is expecting a decision from FIFA’s appeal committee within eight days.
“The FFF has adopted the principle of an appeal if the decision of the FIFA appeal committee does not go Michel Platini’s way,” said a FFF spokesman.
Swiss Sepp Blatter, 79, won a fifth consecutive presidential election in May but announced he would be stepping down just days later following the launch of two investigations into FIFA by US and Swiss authorities.
Michel Platini is one of the favorites to replace Sepp Blatter and still plans to stand. He has the full backing of UEFA, which is holding an emergency meeting next week.
FIFA’s suspended president Sepp Blatter is appealing against his 90-day ban from soccer’s world governing body.
Sepp Blatter, 79, has been suspended from all duties while FIFA’s ethics committee investigates corruption claims against its leader.
The Swiss was suspended on October 8 along with secretary general Jerome Valcke and Vice-president Michel Platini.
Michel Platini will contest the ban “in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time”. All three deny any wrongdoing.
David Gill, a FIFA vice-president and the vice-chairman of the FA, has written to Markus Kattner, FIFA’s acting secretary general, to request an emergency meeting of the governing body’s executive committee.
FIFA’s ethics committee began its investigation into Sepp Blatter after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against him in September.
Photo Getty Images
Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to Michel Platini.
The ethics committee also opened an inquiry into Michel Platini over the 2 million euros payment, which was made nine years after the 60-year-old Frenchman carried out consultation work for Sepp Blatter.
Jerome Valcke was already on gardening leave from his FIFA position following newspaper allegations last month which implicated the 55-year-old in a scheme to profit from the sale of World Cup tickets.
His lawyer said that his client was “confident” he will be fully cleared of the “false allegations” when “all the facts come out”.
Sepp Blatter won a fifth consecutive presidential election in May, but he announced he would be stepping down just days later following the launch of two investigations into FIFA by US and Swiss authorities.
He is due to finish his term on February 26, when a new president will be elected.
Michel Platini, who also heads European soccer body UEFA, is one of the favorites to replace Sepp Blatter and still plans to stand.
Soccer’s world governing body FIFA has decided to suspend its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days.
The sanctions were handed out by the FIFA’s ethics committee, which is investigating the three over corruption allegations.
It also banned ex-FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon for six years.
Issa Hayatou, who heads Africa’s soccer confederation (CAF), will act as FIFA president during Sepp Blatter’s ban.
Spain’s Angel Maria Villar is expected to perform the same role at UEFA – European soccer’s governing body – while Michel Platini is suspended.
Photo Getty Images
Both Chung Mong-joon and Michel Platini are hoping to replace Sepp Blatter when he steps down as president in February 2016.
“The grounds for these decisions are the investigations that are being carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee,” the FIFA said in a statement.
Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Michel Platini are banned from any soccer activity in the interim. They deny any wrongdoing.
Earlier this year, US authorities indicted 14 FIFA officials and associates on bribery and racketeering charges. A simultaneous Swiss investigation was started into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Michel Platini and South Korean billionaire Chung Mong-joon – who was also fined 100,000 Swiss Francs by the ethics committee – are two of the leading candidates to replace Sepp Blatter in February.
Soccer’s governing body FIFA has decided to provisionally suspend its president, Sepp Blatter, for ninety days.
Members of FIFA’s ethics committee met this week after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter, 79, in September. They have recommended a 90-day provisional suspension.
Swiss Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to soccer’s governing body and making a “disloyal payment” to UEFA president Michel Platini, 60.
Sepp Blatter, who has run FIFA since 1998, and Michel Platini, who wants to succeed him, deny any wrongdoing.
A final decision will be made on October 9 by Hans Joachim Eckhert, the head of FIFA’s ethics adjudicatory chamber, according to a close friend of Sepp Blatter.
No decision has been made on whether to suspend Michel Platini.
On October 7, Sepp Blatter told a German magazine that he was being “condemned without there being any evidence for wrongdoing”.
The ethics committee’s adjudicatory chamber had been meeting in Zurich since October 5.
The investigation is centered on allegations believed to be around a 2005 TV rights deal between FIFA and Jack Warner, the former president of CONCACAF, the governing body of football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
It is also examining a payment of 2 million Swiss francs that Michel Platini received in 2011 for working for Sepp Blatter. He claims it was “valid compensation” for work carried out more than nine years previously.
Michel Platini has provided information to the criminal investigation but said he has done so as a witness.
Swiss prosecutors said Michel Platini is being treated as “in between a witness and an accused person” as they investigate corruption at FIFA.
Soccer’s governing body chief Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini are facing an investigation by FIFA’s ethics committee.
The move comes after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against 79-yar-old Sepp Blatter.
Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to UEFA President Michel Platini, 60.
Photo Getty Images
The FIFA president denies wrongdoing and his lawyer says he is co-operating fully.
The ethics committee is looking into the circumstances of a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.2 million) that Michel Platini received in 2011 for work said to have been carried out more than nine years previously, reported the Press Association.
Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter on September 25.
Michel Platini – who worked as Sepp Blatter’s technical advisor between 1999 and 2002 – was interviewed as a witness by officers from the attorney general’s office.
Michel Platini is yet to explain the nine-year delay in payment but he too denies any wrongdoing.
Euro 2020 championship finals will be held in a number of cities across Europe, UEFA has announced.
It means there will be no one country hosting the tournament, which will have expanded to 24 teams by then.
The Football Association has already put forward Wembley to European governing body UEFA as a possible venue for the final.
A spokesperson for the Football Supporters’ Federation said the move was “one which will divide fans’ opinions”.
“When the idea of a pan-European tournament was first proposed our primary concern was that supporters across the continent were properly consulted before anything was set in stone.
“The FSF will speak to Football Supporters Europe to see what fans from across the continent make of this move.”
UEFA’s executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
Euro 2020 championship finals will be held in a number of cities across Europe
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told a press conference after the meeting: “Some important decisions have been taken.
“Uefa Euro 2020 will be staged across the continent, in various major cities, following a decision taken today. A Euro for Europe follows an initial idea by UEFA president Michel Platini, who described it as <<an idea I feel really passionate about>>.
“The response has been extremely positive from all the national associations.”
Gianni Infantino confirmed that only Turkey, who had had initially bid to host Euro 2020, opposed the decision through the country’s UEFA vice-president Senes Erzik.
The next competition in 2016 will be hosted by France and will be played with 24 qualifiers at the finals.
Gianni Infantino added the bidding process for the host cities would start in March and decisions would be made in the spring of 2014.
Michel Platini, who won the tournament in 1984 with France, floated the idea as a way of avoiding high costs at a time of financial hardship in many countries.
Higher than expected costs and building delays caused problems for the 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
“It will be a lot easier from a financial perspective for all the countries,” Michel Platini said in June.
“If you need to build airports or 10 stadiums in a country, this would be rather easy because it would be one stadium per host city.”
UEFA is considering ditching the Europa League in favour of extending the Champions League from 32 to 64 teams.
“We’re discussing it. We will make a decision in 2014. Nothing is decided yet,” European football’s governing body president Michel Platini told French newspaper Ouest-France.
UEFA is looking at changing the format of European competitions from 2015.
“There is an ongoing debate to determine what form the European competitions will have between 2015 and 2018,” added Michel Platini.
The Europa League has been criticised by some since it replaced the UEFA Cup in 2009 and exists in the shadow of the more lucrative Champions League.
The Champions League is far more financially beneficial, for UEFA and the clubs concerned, than Europe’s second-tier tournament.
UEFA is considering ditching the Europa League in favour of extending the Champions League from 32 to 64 teams
It has been reported that Europe’s richest clubs will form a breakaway European league if the Champions League is not expanded.
Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said earlier this month that he would like to cut the number of teams competing in the top tier of domestic leagues and increase the number of clubs in the Champions League.
But Michel Platini, a former France international, said he was not worried by talk of a tournament to rival the Champions League being set up.
“It’s a question that is regularly brought up,” he said.
“I can’t see how it could work outside the UEFA framework. Who will referee them? In what stadiums will they play?”
Michel Platini, the president of UEFA, has hit out at “bandits and crooks” for the escalation of Ukrainian hotel prices ahead of the Euro 2012 football championships.
Speaking in Lviv, one of the venues, Michel Platini said the rising cost of accommodation worried him, and called on the authorities to prevent it.
Michel Platini added that some hotels were not respecting room contracts which had already been agreed.
In response, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister pledged to take action.
Speaking alongside Michel Platini, Borys Kolesnikov said he would take appropriate measures within the next 30 days to solve the problem.
Michel Platini has hit out at "bandits and crooks" for the escalation of Ukrainian hotel prices ahead of the Euro 2012
“It’s annoying to have made a lot of investment and then say to people that they can’t come because there are bandits and crooks who want to make a lot of money during this Euro,” Michel Platini said.
“You can’t change [the price of a room] from 40 Euros [$52] to 100 and then up to 500 just like that, from one day to the other, this just is not done,” Michel Platini said.
Michel Platini is due to open a new airport terminal in the city later with President Viktor Yanukovych.
Euro 2012 championships, which are being held in Ukrainian and Polish cities, begin on 8 June.
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