FIFA bans Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini for 8 years after ethics inquiry

On Monday, a FIFA ethics committee in Switzerland banned the outgoing president of the world soccer governing body, Sepp Blatter, plus his presumptive heir, Michel Platini, for eight years after finding them guilty of ethics violations. The ban, which prohibits two of the most powerful men in soccer from engaging in any soccer-related activities, probably ends Platini's bid to replace Blatter when FIFA holds a special vote on his replacement in February and derails Blatter's plans to helm that FIFA congress. Both men are expected to appeal the ban to a FIFA appellate committee and the Court of Arbitration of Sport.

Blatter and Platini were judged guilty of violating FIFA rules on conflicts of interest, bribery, and breach of loyalty, particularly regarding a $2 million payment Blatter had authorized for Platini in 2011. Blatter, 79, was first elected FIFA president in 1998, and he hired Platini, 60, as a special adviser from 1999 to 2002. The men say the 2011 payment was back pay for that earlier arrangement, as specified in an unwritten "gentleman's agreement," but the 2011 transaction caught investigators' attention because it came a few weeks before Blatter began his bid for re-election to a fourth term as FIFA president. UEFA, the European soccer governing body, led by Platini, supported Blatter's re-election, and Blatter won after his only challenger withdrew.

"Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment," the FIFA judges ruled. "By failing to place FIFA's interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA's interests, Mr. Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA." Blatter was also ordered to pay a $50,250 fine while Platini was fined $80,400. Both men are also under investigation by Swiss prosecutors.

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