Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two of the most powerful figures in global soccer, were barred from the sport for eight years on Monday morning after being found guilty of ethics violations.
The suspensions were imposed by the independent ethics committee of FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. Mr. Blatter, who is FIFA’s longtime president, as well as Mr. Platini, who is the president of UEFA, which oversees soccer in Europe, are prohibited from taking part in any soccer-related activities while barred — a sanction that, in Mr. Platini’s case, seemingly ends any chance that he will be able to run in February’s special election to fill the post Mr. Blatter has said he would vacate.
Mr. Blatter, 79, and Mr. Platini, 60, had been provisionally suspended since October while the investigative chamber of the ethics committee scrutinized their actions at the helm of the sport, in particular a payment of about $2 million that Mr. Blatter approved for Mr. Platini in 2011.
The judiciary chamber of the committee ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis for the payment, and it also said that both were guilty of a conflict of interest. “Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment,” the committee said in a statement. “His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.”
The committee said that Mr. Platini’s actions “did not show commitment to an ethical attitude,” finding that he had failed to respect laws, regulations and FIFA’s regulatory framework and adding that he had abused his position as a vice president for the soccer body and as a member of its executive committee.
“I am ashamed that the committee goes against the evidence presented,” Mr. Blatter said after the suspensions were announced. “I have never cheated with money.”
Mr. Blatter, who was fined 50,000 Swiss francs, or about $50,370, and Mr. Platini, who was fined 80,000 Swiss francs, are expected to appeal the verdicts to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a Switzerland-based body that frequently arbitrates matters involving sports governance. It is also likely that both men will seek an expedited process.
Mr. Blatter wants desperately to have his name cleared so that he can host February’s special FIFA Congress, where his successor will be chosen (and, perhaps, where he can also lobby to be named honorary president). Mr. Platini, who had long been seen as the front-runner in the election, will hope to salvage a last-ditch entry into the race.Photo
At this point, however, it seems most likely that the suspensions will leave Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini on the outside of the sport they have led for decades. Mr. Blatter has worked for FIFA since 1975. Mr. Platini has been a member of FIFA’s governing executive committee since 2002. The two men remain under investigation by Swiss prosecutors, who are looking into suspicions of criminal mismanagement of FIFA’s finances and at Mr. Blatter for making what has been described as “disloyal” payments, as well as for selling undervalued television rights to FIFA events. Mr. Platini is a part of that investigation, though not a direct target.
In a news conference, held somewhat bizarrely at FIFA’s former headquarters in Zurich, Mr. Blatter railed against the decision of the ethics committee and seemed particularly troubled that he was informed of his suspension shortly after, instead of before, the decision was announced to the news media. He also ranted against the basic premise that the ethics committee could take action against the president and labeled himself a “punching ball” of world soccer.
“Suspended eight years for what?” he said, claiming that the payment to Mr. Platini was not recorded in FIFA’s records because of an administrative error. “I will use the sporting justice to go forwards. We go once again to the sport committee and to the Swiss courts. I’m a Swiss citizen. In the Swiss law, if you are suspended for eight years, you must have committed something very, very important.”
He added, “To say this is a good day for me or FIFA would be wrong.”
NEW YORK TIMES
No comments:
Post a Comment