Blatter appealing 8-year ban, vows to ‘fight for FIFA’

Regarding Blatter’s prospective CAS challenge, a spokesman for FIFA’s ethics prosecutors, Andreas Bantel, said he first needed to read the motivation of such an appeal before commenting. I am sorry for Federation Internationale de Football Association, which I have served for more than 40 years, and sorry for the 400 plus Federation Internationale de Football Association staff. But I’m also sorry about me.

Along with appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he planned to take a case to Fifa’s appeal body, and was considering court action in Switzerland.

Blatter looked startled on his way to the conference…

They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) “disloyal payment” made to ex-France captain Platini in 2011. The payment was approbed by Blatter.

Blatter, who appeared with a plaster on his face that he said was the result of a small operation the week before, added: “I have accepted that it’s over…”

He also said he “was sorry for FIFA”, which has been engulfed in an unprecedented corruption scandal, including waves of criminal indictments targeting top officials by the United States justice department.

“Something is wrong in this system”.

Both men have confirmed they will appeal against the ban.

The FIFA court cited that there was “no legal basis” for the payment in an oral agreement between the two officials in August 1999. This is not correct.

“He said “I am a very expensive man”.

“I have never cheated with money”. Platini’s UEFA urged its members weeks before the June 2011 election to back Blatter, who was elected unopposed when Bin Hammam was implicated in bribery.

He said he was “really sorry” that he is still “a punching ball” and that he has become tainted in the eyes of humanity. I am now suspended eight years, suspended eight years. I agree with that. But this is administrative and financial proceeding. I can not exactly identify whether they did not want Platini to be the president. There are now 5 candidates to the position: Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, head of Asian football; Tokyo Sexwale, South African politician and tycoon; Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, a former FIFA vice-president; Gianni Infantino, Uefa general secretary; Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA assistant general secretary.