Sepp Blatter’s retirement from Fifa has been brought forward.
The president of world football’s governing body has been banned from all football activities for eight years by Fifa’s ethics committee, with immediate effect.
Uefa president Michel Platini has also been suspended for eight years, with both men receiving the bans as the result of an investigation into a payment of two million Swiss francs (€1.8million) to the Frenchman in 2011.
Blatter, 79, was due to stand down from the presidency in February at a special Fifa congress, but 60-year-old Platini’s hopes of replacing the Swiss bureaucrat are now in ruins.
A Fifa statement read:
The proceedings against Mr Blatter primarily related to a payment of CHF 2,000,000 transferred in February 2011 from FIFA to Mr Platini. Mr Blatter, in his position as President of FIFA, authorised the payment to Mr Platini which had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on 25 August 1999. Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment. His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.
The pair also received fines – Blatter 50,000 Swiss francs and Platini 80,000 – as a result of the disciplinary hearings last week.
Both men have the option of appealing the judgment, while a US-led investigation into corruption within Fifa continues.
.@SeppBlatter you ok hun?
— Ben McAleer (@BenMcAleer1) December 21, 2015
Another good day for the phrase 'football-related activities'. No Subbuteo for Blatter and Platini this Christmas.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) December 21, 2015
