Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini Has Been Suspended By FIFA Over £1.35m Payment From President To UEFA Chief

FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have been provisionally banned from any football-related activity in a ruling that throws world football into total meltdown.

FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke has also been banned for 90 days meaning the three most powerful men in world football are now all provisionally suspended while investigations by FIFA's ethics committee continue.

 READ MORE BELOW

The ban will effectively end outgoing FIFA president Blatter's ambitions to stay on until February, while UEFA president Platini's hopes of succeeding him lie in tatters

Sepp Blatter statement

Blatter's lawyers issued a statement claiming the ethics committee should have allowed him to be heard.

The statement said: 'President Blatter was disappointed that the ethics committee did not follow the code of ethics and disciplinary code, both of which provide for an opportunity to be heard. Further, the ethics committee based its decision on a misunderstanding of the actions of the Attorney General in Switzerland, which has opened an investigation but brought no charge against the president.

'In fact, the prosecutors will be obliged by law to dismiss the case if their investigation, barely two weeks old, does not establish sufficient evidence. President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise.'

Michel Platini statement

UEFA president Platini claimed the fact that news of the impending ban was leaked on Wednesday was an attempt to damage his reputation.

'It was reported last night that the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee intends to recommend to its adjudicatory chamber that I be given a 90-day suspension,' read a statement before the decision was confirmed.

'This deliberate leak – which is insidious in nature and has come about in an unacceptable manner – is essentially an attempt to damage my reputation. Over the last few weeks, I have stressed my willingness to cooperate fully with the authorities carrying out the various enquiries in compliance with the strictest procedural rules. FIFA, on the other hand, has clearly flouted those rules.

'I have always acted and expressed myself with honesty, courage and candour, as I feel that this is my moral duty. If what is being reported regarding the intentions of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee is indeed true, I will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth is known. Nobody should be in any doubt as to my determination to achieve that objective

Platini had been the favourite to succeed 79-year-old Blatter but the ban prevents all three men from being involved in any football-related activity for the next three months while investigations continue. The 90-day suspension can also be extended by a further 45 days, taking it up until just six days before the FIFA presidential election is due on February 26.

The ethics committee also announced that another FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon from Korea has been banned for six years and fined 100,000 Swiss francs for breaking rules during the 2022 World Cup bid campaign.

This follows an inquiry into the £1.35million payment Platini received in 2011 for consultancy work for Blatter nine years earlier, a time lag which he has yet to explain.