Yahoo – AF,
Eric Bernaudeau, 8 Oct 2015
 |
Sepp
Blatter (L) and French football legend Michel Platini (R) have faced
mounting pressure
since Swiss prosecutors started an investigation into the
veteran FIFA
president for criminal mismanagement (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)
|
Zurich
(AFP) - FIFA's ethics watchdog on Thursday suspended the two most powerful men
in football, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, for 90 days in a sensational new
blow to the sport's scandal-tainted governing body.
Secretary-general
Jerome Valcke was also suspended for 90 days while South Korean tycoon Chung
Mong-Joon, a candidate for the FIFA presidency along with Platini, was banned
outright for six years.
While FIFA
said the suspensions were "provisional", the action almost certainly
signals the end of the reign of FIFA president Blatter and deals a major blow
to UEFA leader Platini's hopes of taking over.
 |
Issa
Hayatou (right) has taken over as
interim FIFA president following the
suspension of Sepp Blatter (left) (AFP
Photo/Carl de Souza)
|
FIFA said
Blatter, who has been its president since 1998, had been "relieved of all
his duties" during the 90 days.
Blatter is
under investigation by Swiss prosecutors for criminal mismanagement.
The four
football powerbrokers "are banned from all football activities on a
national and international level. The bans come into force immediately", a
statement said.
Lawyers for
Blatter said he was "disappointed" the ethics watchdog had failed to
follow its own rules by not letting him give evidence.
"President
Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will
demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or
otherwise," said a statement by Zurich lawyers Lorenz Erni, Erni Brun
Forrer and US-based Richard Cullen.
Blatter and
French football legend Platini have faced mounting pressure since Swiss
prosecutors started their investigation on September 25.
Platini,
who has run UEFA, has been named in the investigation because of a two million
dollar payment he received in 2011.
The
Frenchman has denied any wrongdoing and demanded an inquiry into the
circumstances of the investigation against him.
FIFA
chaos
Platini
registered his candidacy Thursday for the February 26 vote to find a successor
to Blatter. But it will be up to an electoral commission to decide now whether
he can stand, officials said.
German
Football Federation Wolfgang Niersbach said Blatter should resign definitively
and Platini must consider whether he "can maintain" his candidacy for
FIFA.
 |
FIFA
general secretary Jerome Valcke speaks during a press conference
in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, on January 20, 2015 (AFP Photo/Nelson Almeida)
|
The
suspensions can be renewed for another 45 days when they run out in January,
which would take the exclusion until just before the FIFA election to be held
on February 26.
Chung, who
was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($100,000) would be automatically ruled out
of the presidential race.
The scion
of the Hyundai family was found to have contravened rules while lobbying for
South Korea's bid for the 2022 World Cup which was awarded to Qatar in a
controversial 2010 vote.
Chung has
threatened to take legal action over the ban.
FIFA's
crisis has been mounting since May when US authorities issued charges against
14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives over more than $150 million
in bribes given for broadcasting and marketing contracts.
Seven FIFA
officials were detained at a Zurich hotel two days before Blatter was reelected
for a fifth term on May 30.
As the
storm grew, Blatter announced that he would stand down, but only when the
election is held. Rivals have accused him since of seeking to cling to power.
Insidious
Blatter
said in an interview with a German magazine this week that he was determined to
stay until February 26. "I am convinced that evil will come into the light
and good will triumph," he said.
Platini and
Chung have said they are victims of a campaign, which they suspect comes from
within FIFA, to derail their bids to become FIFA president.
Media
across Europe had predicted that the 90-day suspensions would be made. Platini
called it an "insidious" leak that appeared to come from an official
FIFA source.
He said it
"is essentially an attempt to damage my reputation" and that FIFA has
"flouted" its own rules.
Platini said he had still registered his official papers to be a candidate in the FIFA race on Thursday. The deadline is October 26.
 |
South
Korean FIFA Honorary Vice President Chung Mong-Joon announces his
candidacy for
the upcoming FIFA presidential elections in February 2016 in Paris
on August
17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin)
|
Platini said he had still registered his official papers to be a candidate in the FIFA race on Thursday. The deadline is October 26.
Chung said
on Monday at a London sports convention that he was the victim of a
"smear" campaign by Blatter who he described as "a hypocrite and
a liar".
He
threatened legal action against Blatter for "embezzlement" by not
declaring his salary and also in case he was stopped from running in the
election.
Prince Ali
bin al Hussein, a former FIFA vice president from Jordan, and Zico, a former
Brazilian footballer and sports minister, are also in the election.
Observers
have predicted that the crisis could bring forward another candidate, with
Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa widely touted.
Sexwale, a
former associate of the late Nelson Mandela, is head of a FIFA commission
trying to bring peace between the Israeli and Palestinian football associatons.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.