Blatter and Michel Platini were both banned for eight years by Fifa’s ethics committee for abusing their positions after a “disloyal payment” of £1.3 million in Swiss Francs was made to Platini in 2011, which was signed off by Blatter.
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The Ethics Committee ruled that both Blatter and Platini had broken the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to conflicts of interest, breach of loyalty and gifts.
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On Monday, the 79-year-old – who had already announced his resignation from his post, pending the election to name his successor – implicitly blamed the sweeping corruption investigation being conducted by the US Department of Justice.
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Besides Blatini, Platter was also handed an identical ban.
Blatter and Platini were booted from the sport following a 2 million Swiss Franc (US$2.02 million) payment deal that is subject to a criminal investigation in Switzerland.
It means their cases could drag on for years even after football believed they had finally rid themselves of Blatter and Platini after months of damaging allegations. The eight-year bans take effect immediately.
“Parallel to going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I am determined to apply to, at the right time, civil courts to obtain damages for all the prejudice I have suffered over very long weeks”.
Unshaven when he arrived, and with a plaster below his right eye following the removal of a mole, Blatter refered to late South African leader Nelson Mandela and then said: “I am sorry that I am still a punching ball for Federation Internationale de Football Association”.
In a rambling, hour-long news conference at FIFA’s former headquarters at Sonnenberg, Zurich, the Swiss insisted he was still president, vowed to fight his punishment and channeled Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying: “I’ll be back”.
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The payment was made less than a month after a meeting between Platini and Bin Hammam where it is understood they discussed the presidency. Instead he said “I’m sorry about me. This agreement was both directly and indirectly confirmed by two meetings of the UEFA executive committee – one in Sweden and the other here in Zurich in December 1998”. I said OK, we can pay you part now, part later.
