Federation Internationale de Football Association suspends Blatter, Platini and Valcke

“The duration of the bans may be extended for an additional period not exceeding 45 days”, the statement added.

Platini now has a further day to lodge what UEFA say will be a “vigorous” appeal against his sanction but in all likelihood yesterday’s developments mean he will be unable to stand on February 26.

“I want everyone to know my state of mind: more than a sense of injustice or a desire for revenge, I am driven by a profound feeling of staunch defiance. I am more determined than ever to defend myself before the relevant judicial bodies”. That could rule out Platini, 60, although it would be up to the electoral committee to decide whether he can stand.

Earlier on Thursday, UEFA said it backed Platini and “saw no need” for the highest-ranking vice-president to step in to assume his powers.

Swiss prosecutors last month opened a criminal investigation into Blatter over a Caribbean World Cup TV rights contract he signed, and a 2011 payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.07 million) to Platini.

We recap Thursday’s developments as FIFA’s Ethics Committee handed provisional suspensions to president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.

“The future can only be constructed without the current president, without Sepp Blatter”.

Blatter’s suspension brings a sudden halt to a 40-year career that had survived waves of scandals until he was placed under criminal investigation.

No tweet has appeared on Blatter’s account since Friday. A fourth person, former vice president Chung Mong-joon was banned for six years. The Cameroonian says he will not run in the presidential elections. “FIFA remains committed to the reform process, which is critical to reclaiming public trust”.

From sure bet to suspended, Michel Platini’s career in soccer politics could be over. “The ethics committee will also be the subject of my legal actions for damaging my reputation”.

Hayatou, from Cameroon, heads FIFA’s crucial finance committee and once stood against Blatter for the presidency, although until the recent corruption storm, he had been a close ally.

The Cameroonian, 69, is FIFA’s most senior vice-president and has been in the role since 1992. The 60-year-old Frenchman claims: “The allegations are astonishingly vague”.

In rare comments to journalists, Hayatou has always said he has a “clear conscience” about his dealings in global sport.

Though Blatter had just been reelected to a fifth term, he scheduled a special election to choose his successor for February 2016.

He had enough support from five national associations but it is understood the FA were not one of them. “We now await the results of both the ethics committee inquiry and the investigation of the Swiss attorney general”.

Musa Bility, the president of the Liberian FA, got a friendly “no” from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) despite personally appealing to their executive committee.

Lawyers for Blatter said he was “disappointed” the ethics watchdog had failed to follow its own rules by not letting him give evidence.