a sidebar

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

FIFA rejects Blatter, Platini appeals









Platini, Blatter
FIFA has dismissed appeals from Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini against their bans from all football activity, Sky Sports reports.
However, the pair have had their bans reduced from eight years to six years by the FIFA appeal committee. The news comes after Platini and Blatter’s hearings were held in Zurich earlier this month.
The two men were banned in December over a “disloyal payment” of £1.3m between them in 2011, made without a written FIFA contract, when both claimed they had a verbal agreement for FIFA to pay Platini an additional salary for his work as Blatter’s presidential adviser from 1999-2002.
Blatter was “nervous and expecting bad news” ahead of the outcome of the FIFA hearings but, while their appeals were rejected, the committee decided that their work in football “should deserve appropriate recognition,” and denied an attempt by FIFA ethics prosecutors to have the pair banned for life.
FIFA also fined Platini 80,000 Swiss Francs (£58,300) and Blatter 50,000 Swiss Francs (£36,400). Blatter intends to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Platini is expected to follow suit.
The 79-year-old said in a statement through his spokesman, “I am very disappointed by the appeal committee of FIFA and I will take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.”

No comments: