FIFA ethics body suspends Blatter, Platini from world soccer

ZURICH - World soccer chief Sepp Blatter and European boss Michel Platini were suspended on Thursday in a deepening corruption scandal, decapitating the leadership of a sport facing criminal investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Blatter, the Swiss who has been president of world governing body FIFA since 1998, was already due to stand down after an election to replace him in February.

Platini, head of European body UEFA, was a frontrunner to replace him. His shrinking election hopes now depend on whether he can overturn the 90-day ban imposed by FIFA's Ethics Committee.

Despite their denials of wrongdoing, both men have gradually been submerged by the scandal that has engulfed the world's most popular sport, beginning with dawn raids and a series of arrests at a Swiss luxury hotel in May.

"During this time, the above individuals are banned from all football activities on a national and international level," the ethics committee said.

FIFA said in a statement: "Joseph S. Blatter, for the duration of the 90-day ban, is not allowed to represent FIFA in any capacity, act on the organization's behalf, or communicate to media or other stakeholders as a FIFA representative."

It said his acting replacement was Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, the head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA's most senior vice president.

In 2011, Hayatou, 69, was reprimanded by the International Olympics Committee's ethics commission after he confirmed to them that he was paid by FIFA's former marketing agency International Sport and Leisure in 1995.

The IOC said such an action constituted a conflict of interest. Hayatou denied any personal gain or wrongdoing.

In a statement on Thursday, the Cameroonian said he would not be a candidate for FIFA president in February and had taken the role on "only on an interim basis".

JORDANIAN RIVAL

If Platini is not able to overturn his ban and join the election race, it would leave Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan as the clear favorite, unless other candidates now emerge to take advantage of the Frenchman's troubles.

South African Tokyo Sexwale, who was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela during the apartheid era and later became a politician and businessman, has said he is considering running.

Last week two sources told Reuters that Bahraini Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, would consider standing if Platini was ruled out.

In further disciplinary moves, FIFA also handed out a 90-day suspension to Secretary General Jerome Valcke, who had already been sent on leave after being accused of being part of a scheme to sell 2014 World Cup tickets at a marked-up price. He denies any wrongdoing.

South Korea's former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon was banned from the game for six years, a decision which will almost certainly end his already slim electoral hopes.

Swiss and U.S. authorities are both investigating corruption in world soccer, in long-running probes that have so far led to the indictment of 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives. Among other things, they are examining the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

All those banned on Thursday can turn to FIFA's Appeals Committee to try to overturn the bans, but would remain suspended throughout any appeals process.

Blatter's lawyers said he was disappointed he had been suspended without having the chance to be heard. They added he was looking forward to presenting evidence that would prove he did not engage in any misconduct.

Platini, a former France midfield star, said he submitted his nomination papers for the election to succeed Blatter before he was suspended. Shortly before his ban was announced, he indicated he intended to fight against the ruling.

"I will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth is known," Platini said in a statement. "Nobody should be in any doubt as to my determination to achieve that objective."

A spokesman for Platini was unable to comment on whether he intended to appeal.

The statement from the Ethics Committee did not give out details of any offence committed by Blatter and Platini.

While it is not allowed to discuss any probes, the investigation is almost certainly looking into a 2 million Swiss francs ($2.06 million) payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011, nine years after he completed a spell working for Blatter as an adviser.

The Swiss Attorney General said on Sept. 25 it had opened a criminal investigation into Blatter concerning that matter and a Caribbean television rights deal. Platini is regarded as somewhere "between a witness and an accused person" in the payment case.

Blatter has worked for FIFA for 40 years, starting as a technical director before becoming secretary general under former president Joao Havelange in 1981.

The 79-year-old Swiss told a German magazine this week that the Swiss criminal investigation against him was "not correct".  — Reuters

Blatter's daughter says he will quit FIFA in February

GENEVA - Sepp Blatter, facing a criminal investigation as part of soccer's corruption scandal, will "definitely not" stay on as president of the FIFA governing body after the election of a new leader in February, his daughter said.

His former public relations adviser Klaus Stoehlker said last week that Blatter had not ruled out trying to stay on as head of world soccer beyond the Feb. 26 vote.

But Corinne Blatter-Andenmatten said in an interview published by Swiss newspaper Blick am Sonntag on Sunday there was "no way" he would continue, and at some point he would publish his memoirs.

"I know he wants to quit, and he will do it," she said.

Major soccer sponsors on Friday issued coordinated calls for the immediate resignation of Blatter, who is being investigated by the Swiss on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.

Blatter, who denies wrongdoing, said through his U.S. lawyer he would not resign as it was not in FIFA's best interest.

The scandals surrounding global soccer exploded in May, when 14 officials and sports marketing executives were indicted on US charges of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud in relation to bribery schemes that dated back decades.

February's election was set after Blatter announced in June that he was standing down, just days after winning a fifth term.

Since then, the question of whether Blatter, 79, really will quit has hung over FIFA.

Blatter-Andenmatten, who has frequently spoken out to defend her father's reputation, said he had stayed on because the majority of football associations wanted him to, and because "he never runs away when the going gets tough".

She declined to discuss the possibility of her father ending up in jail: "I don't even want to think about it. It's inconceivable to me that he would have to go to prison."

Blatter was questioned by Swiss federal prosecutors for eight hours on Sept 25, and looked "shocked and disappointed" to be taken by surprise by their arrival, his daughter said.

"He just said to me: 'I think it's a dream'," Blatter-Andenmatten said.

She blamed the media for ruining her father's reputation and said Swiss prosecutors appeared to have prejudged him.

The prosecutors said Blatter was suspected of a "disloyal payment" of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.05 million) in 2011 to Michel Platini, president of the UEFA soccer confederation, at the expense of FIFA.

Platini has not been accused of any wrongdoing, although he has acknowledged the development has damaged his chances of replacing Blatter as FIFA president.

Blatter-Andenmatten suggested the job of FIFA president could be shared by more than one person after Blatter leaves.

Swiss watch firm and FIFA sponsor Hublot did not join the calls for Blatter to step down.

"We do not believe that it is our role to interfere in the politics of FIFA," Switzerland's Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper quoted chairman Jean-Claude Biver as saying.

The same paper quoted Peter Gilliéron, president of the Swiss Football Association, as saying he saw no alternative to Blatter until the election. — Reuters

FIFA's Blatter will not attend women's World Cup final -lawyer

NEW YORK  - FIFA President Sepp Blatter will not travel to Canada for the final of the women's World Cup on July 5 for personal reasons, a U.S.-based lawyer for Blatter said on Tuesday.

Senior executives of Zurich-based FIFA were charged with corruption on May 27 by prosecutors in the United States over bids for major soccer tournaments dating back 24 years and involving up to $150 million in purported bribes.

Blatter came under pressure to step down, and he announced on June 2 that he would do so. U.S. prosecutors have not accused Blatter of wrongdoing but his stewardship of world soccer's governing body is under scrutiny, sources familiar with investigations in the United States and Switzerland have said.

"He's not going to go to the finals in Canada," said the lawyer, Richard Cullen. "He has informed the organizers of that and cited personal reasons."

Cullen said that FIFA Senior Vice President Issa Hayatou of Cameroon would preside at the trophy ceremony after the final in Vancouver instead.

This will be the first time Blatter has not presented the trophy to the winners of the women's competition, which is held every four years, since he became FIFA president in 1998.

Blatter, the self-styled "godfather of women's football," said before the tournament began on June 6 that he was looking forward to being in Canada. The tournament's semi-finals will be contested by the United States and Germany on Tuesday and England and Japan on Wednesday.

Investigations by U.S. and Swiss authorities also include scrutiny of how FIFA awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 men's tournaments.  — Reuters

Blatter replacement must be 'squeaky clean' says FA boss

Sepp Blatter's replacement as FIFA president must be "squeaky clean" and have a forensic eye to turn world soccer's scandal-hit governing body into a transparent organisation, said English FA chairman Greg Dyke.

Blatter unexpectedly announced earlier on Tuesday that he was quitting as FIFA chief, just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term.

Dyke has been an outspoken critic of Blatter and said in the wake of the 79-year-old's re-election that the Swiss would not see out his term of office.

Dyke described Blatter's decision to step down as a "good day for football", but said the replacement would have his work cut out after a corruption investigation plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its history.

"The real issue now is whoever replaces Blatter has got to be squeaky clean because we haven't had a squeaky clean president of FIFA for many, many years," Dyke told Sky Sports.

"It has got to be somebody who can forensically look at that organisation, or bring in the forensic accountants to look at that organisation, sort out the money, find where it has gone.

"We don't even know how much money these people get paid, we don't know what their expenses are -- we know nothing. All that has got to be transparent.

"There's a lot of good people who work in FIFA who I think must be dismayed at what they've had to endure, certainly in the last week."

Dyke, who said future presidents should be prevented from standing for more than two terms in office, questioned the reasons behind Blatter's sudden resignation.

"He was triumphant in Zurich, four days later he's gone. So who got him, who shot him, is the interesting question," he said.

"I don't believe he went for any sort of moral basis because I don't believe that's the man, so something has happened between then and now which means he has to resign.

"I just don't think he's the sort of person who would suddenly have had a moral conversion on the road to Damascus and said, 'Oh maybe I'm not the right person for football'.

"He would have hung on forever so clearly something has happened. We'll find out no doubt in the next few days."

FIFA was rocked two days before the election when the FBI raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials. - Reuters