Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have both been provisionally banned for 90 days from any football-related activity in a ruling that throws world football into total meltdown.
Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke has also been banned for 90 days, and Fifa presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has been banned for six years and fined 100,000 Swiss francs, Fifa's ethic committee has announced.
Outgoing Fifa president Blatter and Uefa president Platini — who had been favourite to succeed 79-year-old Blatter — will now not be involved in any football activity for the next three months while investigations continue. The 90-day suspension can also be extended by a further 45 days.
A statement from Fifa’s ethics committee said: “During this time, the above individuals are banned from all football activities on a national and international level. The bans come into force immediately.”
The statement from Fifa’s ethics committee said: “The adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee chaired by Hans Joachim Eckert has provisionally banned Fifa President Joseph S. Blatter, Uefa president and Fifa vice-president Michel Platini, and Fifa secretary General Jerome Valcke (who has already been put on leave by his employer Fifa) for a duration of 90 days. The duration of the bans may be extended for an additional period not exceeding 45 days.
“The former Fifa vice-president Chung Mong-Joon has been banned for six years and fined 100,000 Swiss francs. During this time, the above individuals are banned from all football activities on a national and international level. The bans come into force immediately.
“The grounds for these decisions are the investigations that are being carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee. The chairman of the chamber is Dr Cornel Borbely. The investigation into Joseph S. Blatter is being carried out by Robert Torres, the investigation into Michel Platini by Vanessa Allard.
“The proceedings against the South Korean football official Chung Mong-joon were opened in January 2015 based on findings in the report on the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018/2022 Fifa World Cups. He has been found guilty of infringing article 13 (general rules of conduct), article 16 (confidentiality), article 18 (duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting), article 41 (obligation of the parties to collaborate) and article 42 (general obligation to collaborate) of the Fifa code of ethics.”
“The ethics committee is unable to comment on the details of the decisions until they become final, due to the provisions of article 36 (confidentiality) of the Fifa code of ethics.”
- Fifa regulations
Blatter and Platini could each be provisionally suspended for a total of 135 days.
Fifa’s ethics committee rules state the maximum 90-day provisional suspension can be extended for a further 45 days.
That would see the provisional suspension end on February 20th — only six days before the election of Blatter’s successor is due to take place — meaning a disciplinary hearing would have to take place before that time.
The pair can appeal against the suspension to Fifa’s appeals committee within two days of being notified of the decision but they will remain suspended at least until the appeal is held.
Blatter’s lawyers had claimed they would expect the “ethics committee would want to hear from the president and his counsel, and conduct a thorough review of the evidence, before making any recommendation to take disciplinary action”.
That does not need to be the case for a provisional suspension however.
