Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini’s services to football were a significant factor in the reduction of their bans from all football-related activity, FIFA’s appeals committee said on Wednesday.
Former FIFA president Blatter and UEFA chief Platini had their appeal hearings last week after being punished in December over a £1.3million “disloyal payment” made to the Frenchman.
The pair’s suspensions have been reduced from eight to six years, but Blatter is not satisfied and intends to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Platini is expected to follow.
A FIFA statement read: “The FIFA appeal committee, chaired by Larry Mussenden ( Bermuda ), has partially confirmed the decisions taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the independent ethics committee on 17 and 18 December 2015 regarding Joseph S Blatter and Michel Platini respectively, whose bans have been reduced from eight to six years.
“The appeal committee considered that Mr Platini’s and Mr Blatter’s activities and the services they had rendered to FIFA, UEFA and football in general over the years should deserve appropriate recognition as a mitigating factor.”
The six-year bans began on October 8, 2015 and expire in October 2021. Blatter is aged 79 and the confirmation of the suspension ends his hopes of returning to football, unless CAS rules in his favour.
Platini would be eligible to return in time for the Qatar 2022 World Cup he championed.
Blatter must also pay a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs (£36,000), while Platini has been ordered to pay 80,000 Swiss francs (£58,000). Both sums are due within 30 days.
Blatter said in a statement through his spokesman: “I am very disappointed by the appeal committee of FIFA and I will take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.”
Five candidates are running in the election to succeed Blatter as FIFA president. The election takes place in Zurich on Friday.
Blatter and Platini both deny wrongdoing. They claimed the £1.3m payment was made following a verbal agreement between the pair when the Frenchman worked for Blatter from 1998 to 2002, though not paid until 2011, 13 years after the agreement.
The explanation was rejected as “not convincing” by the ethics committee in December, though it did add the evidence had not been sufficient to secure charges of corruption.
The appeal committee agreed with that assertion and dismissed an appeal lodged by the investigatory chamber for life bans to be imposed.
The charges found proven in December included offering and accepting gifts, conflict of interest, and violating their fiduciary duty to FIFA.
A one-year reduction of the five-year ban for a breach of article 20 (offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) of the FIFA code of ethics was applied and a one-year reduction of the three-year ban for other breaches was applied.
The appeal verdicts come two days before 207 of FIFA’s member associations – Kuwait and Indonesia are suspended – vote in a first new president of football’s world governing body since Blatter’s appointment in 1998. Platini had hoped to be in contention for the post.
Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al Hussein, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA deputy secretary general from France, are all vying for the top job.
FIFA is this week also expected to approve wide-scale reforms to ensure openness and guard against the corruption which has engulfed it in recent times. The reforms will be voted on ahead of the presidential election.
The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent ethics committee earlier on Wednesday opened formal proceedings against former CONMEBOL vice-presidents Luis Bedoya and Sergio Jadue.
FIFA’s ethics committee earlier this month recommended life bans from football for the pair, who each pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy in December, having been indicted as part of the long-running criminal investigation into corruption within FIFA.
