DPA/Berlin
The FIFA ethics committee yesterday dismissed allegations from Joseph Blatter’s lawyers that the president of the ruling body got no appropriate hearing ahead of his provisional 90-day ban.
“Mr Blatter was questioned on October 1 by Robert Torres from the FIFA ethics committee. Mr Blatter had the right to comment in detail on all open questions,” Andreas Bantel, spokesman for the ethics committee investigatory chamber, told dpa.
In appealing Thursday’s ruling, according to the New York Times, Blatter’s legal team said that Blatter was not heard properly, that the ethics committee decision was solely based on a Swiss criminal probe and complained that Blatter only learnt of the ban when it was published by the ethics committee.
Bantel also refuted this claim, saying: “The publication can only come after the people have been informed, and that happened in this case as well.”
The ethics committee on Thursday banned Blatter and Michel Platini, the UEFA president and FIFA vice-president, for 90 days in connection with a criminal investigation by Swiss authorities in which Blatter is suspected of mismanagement and Platini is named as the recipient of a “disloyal payment” from FIFA.
Platini said Thursday he would appeal the ruling, and like Blatter he protested his innocence.
Blatter’s adviser Klaus Stoehlker said Thursday that an appeal against the provisional suspension would make no sense, but his American lawyer Richard Cullen said early Friday that Blatter’s appeal has been filed.
Blatter and Platini are banned from all football activities for 90 days or until the appeal committee nullifies the ban. The ethics committee can meanwhile extend the ban for another 45 days.
Another official punished by FIFA Thursday, South Korean presidential candidate Chung Mong Joon of South Korea, also said Friday he would appeal his six-year ban in connection with his country’s bid for the 2022 World Cup.
Chung’s campaign to succeed Blatter appears over before it started, and so could that of Platini even if the Frenchman’s appeal is successful.
UEFA has called an emergency meeting next week of its executive committee to discuss the situation, and FIFA’s executives are also expected to gather soon once caretaker president Issa Hayatou arrives at the Zurich headquarters next week.
The turmoil meanwhile led to calls for a thorough reform of the governing structures, from many sides including the European Club Association (ECA) which represents more 200 clubs in the key continent of Europe.
“The outcome must be the emergence of a new governance model, which is democratic, transparent, accountable and inclusive and in which clubs occupy a position that reflects their critical contribution to the game,” the ECA said in a statement.
