FIFA ethics committee seeks life ban against Michel Platini

PARIS — The FIFA ethics committee has requested a life ban for Michel Platini, the Frenchman’s lawyer said today (Nov 24), a move that would rule the UEFA president out of the race to succeed Sepp Blatter.

Thibaut d’Ales told The Associated Press that the maximum sanction was asked for when the FIFA ethics committee investigations unit submitted its final case report.

Platini faces a hearing before FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert next month.

“The overreaching of the request really convinces us of this commission’s total lack of credibility,” D’Ales said in a telephone interview. “There is not a single tangible element in this case that can confirm the suspicions.”

Platini is currently serving a 90-day ban over a US$2 million (S$2.83 million) payment of FIFA money he received in 2011 as backdated salary. He worked as a presidential adviser from 1998-2002 for Blatter, who also faces the ethics court’s judgement in the case.

Platini denies wrongdoing and says he had a verbal contract with Blatter to receive the money.

Eckert is expected to give his verdicts in the cases of Platini and Blatter next month. Any sanctions can be challenged at the FIFA appeals committee and Court of Arbitration for Sport.

D’Ales said he was informed of the ethics committee’s request yesterday and decided to make it public after it leaked in the French press. He said FIFA’s aim is to prove that there was no contract between Platini and Blatter.

“Obviously we’ve got the proof that such a deal existed,” D’Ales said. “We will submit it to CAS, which will handle the case within a fairly short space of time.”

A spokesman for the FIFA ethics prosecutors declined to confirm what sanction was requested last week.

“We are entitled to comment but we decided for reasons of personality rights and the presumption of innocence not to publish the request,” Andreas Bantel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “If Mr Platini wants to comment on the request he is entitled to do that.”

Platini aims to clear his name and stand as a candidate in the FIFA presidential election on Feb 26 to succeed Blatter, who is stepping down. Blatter announced his exit plans on June 2 under pressure from American and Swiss federal investigations into bribery and corruption at FIFA.

Switzerland’s attorney-general has opened criminal proceedings against Blatter over the $2 million payment as suspected criminal mismanagement of FIFA money.

Platini was quizzed on Sept 25 at FIFA headquarters as “between a witness and an accused person”, according to attorney general Michael Lauber.

A FIFA life ban has been overturned by CAS in the past.

Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar had his expulsion by FIFA overturned on appeal in July 2012, more than one year after a bribery allegation ended his presidential campaign against Blatter. The CAS panel said a FIFA investigation did not prove Bin Hammam was the source of US$40,000 bribes to Caribbean voters, though it suspected he was. AP