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Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini Are Barred From Soccer for 8 Years Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini Are Barred From Soccer for 8 Years
(about 2 hours later)
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two of the most powerful figures in global soccer, were barred from the sport for eight years on Monday morning after being found guilty of ethics violations. With white whiskers sprouting from his chin, a bandage across one cheek and his tie slightly askew, Sepp Blatter, the longtime president of FIFA, appeared slightly unkempt on Monday morning. When he spoke at a news conference in Zurich, however, Mr. Blatter was simply unbowed.
The suspensions were imposed by the independent ethics committee of FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. Mr. Blatter, who is FIFA’s longtime president, as well as Mr. Platini, who is the president of UEFA, which oversees soccer in Europe, are prohibited from taking part in any soccer-related activities while barred — a sanction that, in Mr. Platini’s case, seemingly ends any chance that he will be able to run in February’s special election to fill the post Mr. Blatter has said he would vacate. Ranting against his lengthy suspension from the sport by FIFA’s ethics committee — a committee he helped create and routinely endorsed — Mr. Blatter, 79, wove widely in his rhetoric, variously invoking his humanitarianism, his loyalty, his passion, his moral compass and his faith. He spoke in English, Spanish, French and German — and declared in all of them that his four-decade career should not end in disgrace.
Mr. Blatter, 79, and Mr. Platini, 60, had been provisionally suspended since October while the investigative chamber of the ethics committee scrutinized their actions at the helm of the sport, in particular a payment of about $2 million that Mr. Blatter approved for Mr. Platini in 2011. “I want to talk about betrayal,” he said. “Today, first of all, I was very sad. But not anymore. Now I am fighting.”
The judiciary chamber of the committee ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis for the payment, and it also said that both were guilty of a conflict of interest. “Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment,” the committee said in a statement. “His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.” His battle figures to be especially difficult. Mr. Blatter and Michel Platini, two of the most powerful figures in global soccer, were barred from the sport for eight years on Monday after being found guilty of ethics violations.
The committee said that Mr. Platini’s actions “did not show commitment to an ethical attitude,” finding that he had failed to respect laws, regulations and FIFA’s regulatory framework and adding that he had abused his position as a vice president for the soccer body and as a member of its executive committee. For Mr. Blatter, who has been FIFA’s president since 1998, as well as Mr. Platini, who is the president of UEFA, which oversees soccer in Europe, the bans prohibit any involvement in soccer-related activities — a sanction that, in Mr. Platini’s case, seemingly ends any chance that he will be able to run in February’s special election to fill the post Mr. Blatter has said he will vacate.
“I am ashamed that the committee goes against the evidence presented,” Mr. Blatter said after the suspensions were announced. “I have never cheated with money.” Mr. Blatter’s suspension means that he will not be able to step away from soccer on his own terms, a reality that appeared to infuriate him.
Mr. Blatter, who was fined 50,000 Swiss francs, or about $50,370, and Mr. Platini, who was fined 80,000 Swiss francs, are expected to appeal the verdicts to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a Switzerland-based body that frequently arbitrates matters involving sports governance. It is also likely that both men will seek an expedited process. “Of course, I should have stopped after the 2014 World Cup,” Mr. Blatter said, referencing his decision not to retire last year but instead to pursue a fifth term as president. “That would have been perhaps the wise thing to do. Now we are in a situation we don’t deserve to be in.”
Mr. Blatter wants desperately to have his name cleared so that he can host February’s special FIFA Congress, where his successor will be chosen (and, perhaps, where he can also lobby to be named honorary president). Mr. Platini, who had long been seen as the front-runner in the election, will hope to salvage a last-ditch entry into the race. Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini, 60, had been provisionally suspended since October while the investigative chamber of the ethics committee scrutinized their actions, in particular a payment of about $2 million that Mr. Blatter approved for Mr. Platini in 2011. The judiciary chamber of the committee ruled on Monday that there was no legal basis for the payment, and it also said that both men were guilty of a conflict of interest in agreeing to it. “Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment,” the committee said. “His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.”
At this point, however, it seems most likely that the suspensions will leave Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini on the outside of the sport they have led for decades. Mr. Blatter has worked for FIFA since 1975. Mr. Platini has been a member of FIFA’s governing executive committee since 2002. The two men remain under investigation by Swiss prosecutors, who are looking into suspicions of criminal mismanagement of FIFA’s finances and at Mr. Blatter for making what has been described as “disloyal” payments, as well as for selling undervalued television rights to FIFA events. Mr. Platini is a part of that investigation, though not a direct target. The committee said Mr. Platini’s actions “did not show commitment to an ethical attitude,” adding that he had abused his position as a vice president for the soccer body and as a member of its executive committee.
In a news conference, held somewhat bizarrely at FIFA’s former headquarters in Zurich, Mr. Blatter railed against the decision of the ethics committee and seemed particularly troubled that he was informed of his suspension shortly after, instead of before, the decision was announced to the news media. He also ranted against the basic premise that the ethics committee could take action against the president and labeled himself a “punching ball” of world soccer. In a statement sent to the French press agency, Mr. Platini denied the charges and said the entire situation was a “true mockery.” He also labeled the disciplinary process “pathetic” and said the decision against him went against “all legitimacy and credibility.”
“Suspended eight years for what?” he said, claiming that the payment to Mr. Platini was not recorded in FIFA’s records because of an administrative error. “I will use the sporting justice to go forwards. We go once again to the sport committee and to the Swiss courts. I’m a Swiss citizen. In the Swiss law, if you are suspended for eight years, you must have committed something very, very important.” Mr. Blatter, who at one point questioned whether the ethics committee even had the authority to discipline the FIFA president, struck a similar tone. “I am ashamed that the committee goes against the evidence presented,” he said. “I have never cheated with money.”
He added, “To say this is a good day for me or FIFA would be wrong.” Mr. Blatter, who was fined 50,000 Swiss francs, or about $50,370, and Mr. Platini, who was fined 80,000 Swiss francs, will appeal the verdicts to FIFA and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is based in Switzerland and frequently arbitrates matters involving sports governance. Both men are also likely to seek an expedited process. Mr. Blatter wants desperately to have his name cleared so that he can host the special FIFA Congress in which his successor will be chosen. Mr. Platini, who had long been seen as the front-runner in the election, will hope to salvage a last-ditch entry into the race.
The FIFA suspensions came after a weekend of deliberations by the ethics committee, which heard Mr. Blatter’s side of the story on Thursday and Mr. Platini’s on Friday. Mr. Platini did not attend his hearing, sending his lawyer instead in a form of protest over what he said was a predetermined outcome. “I am already judged, I am already condemned,” Mr. Platini said in a statement read by his lawyer. At this point, however, the suspensions are likely to leave Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini on the outside of the sport they have led for decades. The two men remain under investigation by Swiss prosecutors, and while UEFA released a statement of support for Mr. Platini, that backing was not unanimous.
Mr. Blatter attended his hearing and spent about eight hours defending his record as an employee of FIFA, in various capacities, for more than 40 years. Mr. Blatter became FIFA’s president in 1998, and Mr. Platini worked for him as a special consultant from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Blatter approved a payment of $2 million to Mr. Platini nine years later, in 2011, that he has said was simply back payment of salary owed. “Eight years are not enough for me,” Javier Tebas, the Spanish league president, said, according to The Associated Press. “The penalty should be that they can never again form part of a sports institution.”
There was no written contract detailing the basis for the payment, however, and Mr. Platini has said in interviews that there was simply a “gentleman’s agreement” between him and Mr. Blatter to cover the difference between what he was paid at the time and the full amount. In his news conference, held somewhat bizarrely at FIFA’s former headquarters in Zurich, Mr. Blatter, who has worked for FIFA since 1975, was at times bold and defiant. But he also rambled frequently, stopping at one point to congratulate F.C. Barcelona on its recent victory in FIFA’s Club World Cup. At another, he lamented the effect the investigation has had on his family, telling reporters that his granddaughter recently changed schools because she had been subjected to taunting.
Investigators found the late payment suspicious in part because of its timing — just a few months before Mr. Blatter began campaigning for re-election to a fourth term as FIFA president. UEFA, led by Mr. Platini, supported Mr. Blatter, who subsequently won the vote after the only other candidate in the race withdrew. Mr. Blatter declined to speak at length about his health — he was hospitalized last month for what a spokesman said was fatigue — but wore a bandage on his face after the recent removal of a mole. Sitting alongside his daughter, Corrine, Mr. Blatter described himself as a “punching ball” of world soccer.
During his news conference on Monday, Mr. Blatter denied any link between the payment and the election. He also revealed that the process surrounding his investigation had had an effect on his family, as his granddaughter recently moved schools because, Mr. Blatter said, she had been subjected to taunting over his situation. Mr. Blatter became FIFA’s president in 1998, and Mr. Platini worked for him as a special consultant from 1999 until 2002. The $2 million payment approved by Mr. Blatter in 2011 was, he said, simply a delayed salary payment.
“I’m a man of principles,” he said. “I will fight for me, and I will fight for FIFA.” “Suspended eight years for what?” he said, claiming that the payment to Mr. Platini was not recorded in FIFA’s records because of an administrative error.
Mr. Blatter won another four-year term in May, only to announce days later that he would step down amid a growing scandal enveloping soccer. The United States Department of Justice has indicted more than three dozen top soccer officials and marketing executives on a variety of corruption charges, and the Swiss authorities are conducting their own investigation, which includes an examination of the process by which Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. There was no written contract detailing the basis for the payment, however, and Mr. Platini has said in interviews that there was simply a “gentleman’s agreement” between him and Mr. Blatter to cover the deferred money.
In addition to the criminal investigations, FIFA’s ethics committee has been more public in its discipline, and Monday’s bans were not out of context with previous decisions. Chung Mong-joon, an honorary FIFA vice president, recently received a six-year ban for ethics violations, while Harold Mayne-Nicholls, a Chilean who was involved in the evaluation of the 2018 and 2022 bids, received a seven-year ban. Investigators found the late payment suspicious in part because of its timing — a few months before Mr. Blatter began campaigning for re-election to a fourth term as FIFA president. UEFA, led by Mr. Platini, supported Mr. Blatter, who subsequently won the vote after the only other candidate in the race withdrew. On Friday, Mr. Blatter denied any link between the payment and the election.
Now, it is Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini who have received similar suspensions, though Mr. Blatter vowed that this would not be the end to his career in soccer. At the conclusion of his news conference, which went on for nearly an hour and included Mr. Blatter defending himself in English, French, Spanish and German, Mr. Blatter departed with a defiant promise. “I’m a man of principles,” he said. “I will fight for me and I will fight for FIFA.”
Amid the continuing criminal investigations of FIFA in the United States, Switzerland and other countries, FIFA’s ethics committee has been more public in its discipline recently, and Monday’s bans were not out of context with previous decisions. Chung Mong-joon, an honorary FIFA vice president, recently received a six-year ban for ethics violations, and Harold Mayne-Nicholls, a Chilean who was involved in the evaluation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, received a seven-year ban.
Now, it is Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini who have received similar suspensions, though Mr. Blatter vowed that this would not be the end to his career in soccer. At the conclusion of his news conference, which lasted nearly and an hour, he departed with a promise.
“I’ll be back,” he said.“I’ll be back,” he said.