World soccer chief Sepp Blatter and European boss Michel Platini were suspended yesterday, engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as their sport faces criminal investigations in Switzerland and the United States.
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 rocked 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 Blatter’s acting replacement was Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, the head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA’s most senior vice president.
In a statement, Hayatou said he would not be a candidate for FIFA president in February and had taken the role on “only on an interim basis”.
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 favourite, unless other candidates now emerge to take advantage of the Frenchman’s troubles.
All those banned can turn to FIFA’s Appeals Committee to try to overturn the bans
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said FIFA should consider an external candidate to succeed Blatter.
“They must do two things immediately: they must accelerate and deepen the reform process in order to comply with accountability, transparency and all the principles of good governance,” he said in his strongest statement yet on the crisis.
“They should also be open for a credible external presidential candidate of high integrity, to accomplish the necessary reforms and bring back stability and credibility to FIFA,” he added.
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.
South Korea’s former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon was banned for six years, a decision which will almost certainly end his slim electoral hopes.
Swiss and US authorities are both investigating corruption in world soccer, in long-running probes that have so far led to the indictment of 14 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 yesterday can turn to FIFA’s Appeals Committee to try to overturn the bans, but would remain suspended throughout any appeals process.
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.”
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 €1.8m payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011, nine years after he completed a spell working for Blatter as an adviser.