Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has lost his appeal against a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake world football’s governing body, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Monday.
Blatter led FIFA for 17 years, resigning in June last year after several dozen football officials, including former FIFA executive committee members, and entities were indicted in the United States on graft charges.
Blatter, 80, was not among those indicted but himself became embroiled in scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA’s ethics committee, along with Michel Platini, then the president of the European body UEFA.
The men were banned over a payment of two million Swiss francs that FIFA made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter’s approval, for work done a decade earlier.
CAS said in a statement that its panel had determined that Blatter “breached the FIFA code of ethics since the payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis”.
“The Panel further found that Mr Blatter unlawfully awarded contributions to Mr Platini under the FIFA Executive Committee retirement scheme which also amounted to an undue gift.”
Blatter and Platini have denied wrongdoing.
Moments after the verdict was announced, Blatter said in a statement: “I take note of the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The way the case progressed, no other verdict could be expected.
“What I find incomprehensible is that the existence of the oral agreement between Fifa and Michel Platini is still steadfastly negated in spite of my testimony to the contrary and the testimony given by other witnesses. A Uefa protocol mentioning the agreement is also disregarded.
“I have experienced much in my 41 years in Fifa. I mostly learned that you can win in sport, but you can also lose. In this sense I have to accept this decision (my suspension as Fifa president), although it is difficult to follow it, because the principle of jurisdiction – culpability has to be proven by prosecution – was not applied.
“Nevertheless I look back with gratitude to all the years, in which I was able to realise my ideals for football and serve Fifa.”