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CAS orders FIFA not to extend Platini’s 90-day provisional suspension

The Court of Arbitration for Sports on Friday maintained a 90-day suspension from global football against Michel Platini, a CAS official said.

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The Frenchman had hoped to be able to attend this weekend’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris after applying to the court of arbitration for sport against his original 90 day provisional ban.

The payment issue had been discovered by Swiss police who placed Blatter under criminal investigation and assessed Platini at a status somewhere between witness and accused.

Their ban period expires on January 5, 2016.

The timing of the 2011 payment has raised suspicions in that it was made only a few months before Blatter was standing again for the Federation Internationale de Football Association presidency. At the same time, though, the court ordered FIFA’s Ethics Committee not to extend Platini’s provisional suspension for a further 45 days, as it has the power to do under its statutes.

Both are being investigated for wrongdoing.

CAS said its three-man panel of judges was unanimous in ruling against the Federation Internationale de Football Association presidential hopeful.

Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter is reportedly under investigation by the FBI for his role in a multi-million dollar bribery scandal. However, by the long-delayed time Platini claimed the payment, the five-year deadline for honouring the debt had elapsed.

The 60-year-old will now no longer be present at the 2016 European Championship draw on Saturday, which will decide the groups for the tournament in France next year. But Platini’s lawyers say FIFA’s ethics watchdog wants him banned for life.

Platini s lawyers were giving nothing away after setting out their case at CAS.

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Both men face sanctions for a range of potential FIFA Code of Ethics violations, including bribery, conflicts of interest and false accounting.

AFP  File  Fabrice Coffrini The Court of Arbitration has upheld Michel Platini's 90-day from suspension his FIFA role