Suspended UEFA president Michel Platini’s appeal against his six-year ban from soccer was heard at sport’s highest tribunal yesterday with former FIFA president Sepp Blatter among the witnesses.

Platini, who arrived in a taxi for the hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), is hoping that the suspension will be overturned in time for the European Championship tournament, which will be held in his native France in June and July.

CAS said a decision on the appeal could be made as early as next week.

Platini, who was favourite to succeed Blatter as president of global body FIFA before he was banned, was mobbed by reporters and cameramen yesterday as he entered the building in a leafy Lausanne suburb.

Platini was banned for eight years in December along with Blatter over a payment of around $2.08 million made to the Frenchman by FIFA with Blatter’s ap-proval in 2011 for work done a decade earlier.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.