Michel Platini is surrounded by journalists as he arrives at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal against a 90-day suspension in Lausanne this week.
AFP/Lausanne
The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on Friday maintained a 90-day suspension from international football against Michel Platini, in a new blow to the Frenchman's hopes of entering the FIFA presidential race.
The CAS panel "determined that maintaining the provisional suspension for the remainder of the 90 days does not cause irreparable harm to Michel Platini at this point in time," a court statement said.
Platini, the head of Europe's UEFA confederation and a FIFA vice president, had been considered favourite to take over as the world body's leader until he was named in a Swiss criminal investigation.
FIFA suspended Platini and FIFA president Sepp Blatter for 90 days shortly after.
CAS noted that even if the ban were lifted, there was no guarantee that FIFA's ethics committee would confirm Platini as a candidate in the FIFA race.
CAS however ordered FIFA not to extend the provisional suspension, as that would "constitute an undue and unjustified restriction of Michel Platini's right of access to justice."
Platini has been named in a Swiss criminal investigation targeting Blatter over a 2mn Swiss franc ($2mn) payment from FIFA.
FIFA's ethics investigators have called for the ex-Juventus star to be banned for life, with world football's in-house court expected to rule on the case by the end of the year.
That verdict could level a final, crushing blow to Platini's career as a football executive.
Platini's 90-day ban expires on January 5.
Platini was satisfied with the ruling. "Michel Platini notes with satisfaction that CAS partially granted his request when it demanded that FIFA not extend his ban," Thibaud d'Ales told Reuters.
"In substance, he is confident that his case is solid."
Blatter says $100mn bribery case is 'over'
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted that a $100mn bribery case in which he is reportedly implicated "is over", and pleaded ignorance over alleged corruption by top officials at the scandal-hit world body.
Blatter, speaking to Japan's Nikkei business daily, also protested that he should have been warned before Swiss police arrested seven FIFA officials in May, and said he hoped to return to his job in the coming weeks.
"It was a tsunami," he said of the May arrests on behalf of US authorities, which plunged the world body into crisis, in the interview published on Friday.
"Swiss authorities should have at least informed me that such a thing would happen," Blatter said, adding that he was "shocked when I saw, and (what is) still going on, what has happened in the different confederations".
"I cannot be morally responsible for the bad activities of members of my executive committee when I have no chance to introduce them or to dismiss them," Blatter said.
Blatter, who suffered a health scare last month, said he would be fully recovered by Christmas and hoped to be back in office in time to hand over to his successor, who will be elected on February 26.
