It’s official: Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, has been suspended by his own organisation. So too have Michel Platini, UEFA president and FIFA vice-president, and Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary-general. All will be banned “from all football activities on a national and international level” for 90 days.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini suspended by FIFA
FIFA has suspended its own president, along with the president of UEFA, as the investigation into corruption at the top of world soccer rumbles on.
The suspensions relate to allegations that Blatter signed an “unfavourable contract” with the Caribbean Football Union, which benefited the association at FIFA’s expense, and a “disloyal payment” to Platini. Platini is being investigated over that same payment, which amounted to two million Swiss francs and which he claims was payment for work done nine years previously.
Valcke, meanwhile, was placed on leave by FIFA in September amid allegations that he was involved in the selling of World Cup tickets on the black market. Also suspended today was former FIFA president Chung Mong-joon, who has been banned for six years over charges relating to the 2018/2022 World Cup bidding process. FIFA's full statement is here.
Update: In case you were wondering who’s in charge during these suspensions, it appears that Issa Hayatou, president of the African Football Confederation, will run FIFA, while Angel Maria Villar Llona, president of the Spanish Football Association, will take over at UEFA. You may recall that the latter was recently questioned in relation to the World Cup bidding scandals, while the former was reprimanded by the International Olympics Committee following allegations of corruption relating to the sale of World Cup television rights. Ah, soccer administration.
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