FIFA Latest: President Sepp Blatter provisionally suspended for 90 days

THE FIFA Ethics Committee announced on Thursday, October 8 that its President, Sepp Blatter, and other senior figures in the organisation, have been provisionally suspended for 90 days.

Secretary General, Jerome Valcke and Vice President Michel Platini have also received 90 day suspensions. Ex-FIFA Vice President Chung Mong-joon has been banned for six years.

Members of Fifa’s ethics committee handed down the punishments after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, 79, last month.

He is accused of signing a contract ‘unfavourable’ to football’s governing body and making a ‘disloyal payment’ to UEFA president Michel Platini, 60.

The Swiss Blatter, who has run FIFA since 1998, and Platini, who wants to succeed him, both deny any wrongdoing.

A final decision is likely to be made on Thursday by Hans Joachim Eckhert, the head of FIFA’s ethics adjudicatory chamber.

For the duration of Blatter’s suspension, Issa Hayatou from Cameroon will officially be in charge of the organisation as he is now its most senior vice president.

Blatter released a statement through his lawyers calling the suspension into question and labelling it the result of “a misunderstanding of the actions of the attorney general in Switzerland.”

The statement insists that Blatter “looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise.”

Michel Platini also released a statement saying “I have always acted and expressed myself with honesty, courage and candour as I feel that this is my moral duty.”

Full details of the FIFA suspensions and the investigations of the Ethics Committee are available on its website.