![]() The 79-year-old Swiss had already announced his decision to step down as FIFA president, which came just four days after he won a fifth term on office earlier this year after defeating Prince Ali bin al-Hussein in an election in May.īlatter will not be allowed to run for the presidency, which removes any fears over him having a last-minute change of heart to try and run as a candidate, although this would have already proven difficult after he missed the deadline for bids to be registered and the required backing from five associate members to be sealed. In terms of Blatter’s ban, not much has changed. With Blatter and Platini no longer allowed to work in football – be it administrative or of a sporting nature – for eight years pending the outcome of any appeal, what does this mean for world football? Twelve people and two sports marketing companies have been convicted. In the United States, prosecutors have indicted 27 current or former soccer officials, including eight former FIFA executive committee members and the current heads of both the North and South American federations, over allegations that they ran bribery schemes connected to the sale of television rights for soccer competitions. The office is also investigating FIFA's award of the 20 World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar. The ethics inquiry began in the wake of the Swiss attorney general's decision to open criminal proceedings against Blatter over the payment to Platini. "Mr Platini failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities," it said.īlatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs and Platini 80,000. It also said Platini's argument that there had been an oral agreement for the payment had not been convincing, and that he, too, had abused his position as a FIFA vice-president and Executive Committee member. The chamber concluded that Blatter's actions ultimately demonstrated "an abusive execution of his position as President of FIFA". “By failing to place FIFA's interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA's interests, Mr Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA," it added. It said Blatter “found himself in a situation of conflict of interest, despite which he continued to perform his related duties, failing to disclose said situation and the existence of personal interests linked to his prospective activities". "The evidence available to the adjudicatory chamber in the present case was not sufficient to establish, to the extent required, that Mr Blatter sought the execution or omission of an official act from Mr Platini," said a statement, referring to the ‘bribery and corruption’ section of the code.īut the committee’s adjudicatory chamber did find that the payment had been “without a legal basis” and a breach of regulations governing gifts and other benefits. ![]() ![]() The decision means that Blatter's 17 years at the helm of world soccer will end in disgrace, and spells the end of Platini's hopes of replacing the 79-year-old Swiss in a presidential election in February.įIFA’s Ethics Committee said it had not found evidence that the payment, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, constituted a bribe, but it had nevertheless lacked transparency and presented a conflict of interest. ![]() Platini said his conscience was clear and that he would challenge the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport and ultimately seek damages in civil proceedings. The pair, who were also fined, had been suspended in October while an investigation was carried out into a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.02 million) payment that soccer's global governing body made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval. FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini were both banned from soccer for eight years on Monday for ethics violations, leaving the global game leaderless as it fights a swirl of corruption cases. ![]()
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