FOOTBALL’S WORLD GOVERNING Fifa suspended its president Sepp Blatter and Uefa leader Michael Platini for 90 days after they were named in a Swiss corruption case.
The independent ethics committee also banned South Korean tycoon, Chung Mong-Joon, like Platini a candidate for the Fifa presidency for six years.
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, already ordered to leave by Fifa over a separate ticketing scandal, was suspended for 90 days.
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Lawyers for Blatter said this afternoon that the watchdog that suspended him had failed to follow its own rules by not letting him give evidence.
“President Blatter was disappointed that the Ethics Committee did not follow the code of ethics and disciplinary code, both of which provide for an opportunity to be heard,” a statement reads.
The laywers said the suspension was based on a “misunderstanding” of the case launched by the Swiss attorney general.
Swiss prosecutors had “opened an investigation but brought no charge against the president,” said the statement released by Zurich lawyers Lorenz Erni, Erni Brun Forrer and US-based Richard Cullen.
“The prosecutors will be obliged by law to dismiss the case if their investigation, barely two weeks old, does not establish sufficient evidence.
“President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise,” the statement said.
Blatter and Platini suspended by Fifa due to corruption investigation
FOOTBALL’S WORLD GOVERNING Fifa suspended its president Sepp Blatter and Uefa leader Michael Platini for 90 days after they were named in a Swiss corruption case.
The independent ethics committee also banned South Korean tycoon, Chung Mong-Joon, like Platini a candidate for the Fifa presidency for six years.
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, already ordered to leave by Fifa over a separate ticketing scandal, was suspended for 90 days.
Lawyers for Blatter said this afternoon that the watchdog that suspended him had failed to follow its own rules by not letting him give evidence.
“President Blatter was disappointed that the Ethics Committee did not follow the code of ethics and disciplinary code, both of which provide for an opportunity to be heard,” a statement reads.
The laywers said the suspension was based on a “misunderstanding” of the case launched by the Swiss attorney general.
Swiss prosecutors had “opened an investigation but brought no charge against the president,” said the statement released by Zurich lawyers Lorenz Erni, Erni Brun Forrer and US-based Richard Cullen.
“The prosecutors will be obliged by law to dismiss the case if their investigation, barely two weeks old, does not establish sufficient evidence.
“President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise,” the statement said.
© AFP, 2015
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