A criminal
investigation for corruption involving Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini
continues. FIFA and its federations have been under scrutiny for illegal
activities.
Deutsche Welle, 18 Nov 2015
Suspended
FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European football head Michel Platini have lost
their appeals against provisional 90-days suspensions by the global football
body's ethics committee, FIFA said on Wednesday.
The
committee said it had "rejected in full" the appeals made by Blatter
and Platini. Both are currently engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as
their sport faces criminal investigations in Switzerland and the United States.
Blatter,
who has been FIFA's president since 1998 and Platini, UEFA's president since
2007, were suspended on October 7 after Swiss prosecutors launched a
"criminal mismanagement" inquiry against Blatter, who made a two
million dollar payment to Platini in 2011 for work carried out a decade
earlier.
Presidential
chances slipping away
The
suspension has been a severe blow to Platini's hopes of winning a FIFA
presidential election in February. The Frenchman was a favorite to replace the
Swiss Blatter after he announced his plans to stand down in June.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter reacts to banknotes thrown at him by a comedian. |
The
sanction, banning him from all football-related activity, means that he is
unable to campaign in the FIFA presidential race against the five confirmed
candidates, who have already passed the required integrity tests.
Both
Blatter and Platini have the possibility of challenging the decision before the
Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a final ruling. Platini
will take his case to the CAS as it is his only remaining hope for being a
candidate in the election.
If he won
that appeal, the electoral committee has said it would review his case but,
even then, there is still no guarantee that he would be able to stand in the
election.
Richard
Cullen, Blatter's attorney issued a statement saying that FIFA's President was
"dissapointed" by the ruling, and called the lost time in publishing
the ruling "inexplicable."
Blatter lawyers statement continued: pic.twitter.com/kmknRHpPSZ
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) November 18, 2015
Buffeted by
a series of scandals over the last few years, FIFA was thrown into turmoil in
May by the U.S. indictments of 14 football officials, including two FIFA
vice-presidents, and sports marketing executives for alleged corruption.
hf/jil (Reuters, AFP)
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