How Blatter, Platini could face long bans — Inside Federation Internationale de Football Association case

The UEFA president has said Blatter informed him when he started as his advisor in 1999 that it was not initially possible to pay him “the totality of my salary because of FIFA’s financial situation at that time”.

The UEFA President is fighting for his future after being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee over a £1.35m payment from Sepp Blatter that Swiss prosecutors have described as “disloyal”. “I have only learnt through the media that Platini claims that he has a contract with Fifa”, the 85-year-old told the website Inside World Football.

General secretary Jerome Valcke is also suspended.

Asked if he thought Mr Platini, who denies any wrongdoing, would be cleared, he said: “I hope so”.

Much now teeters throughout the crisis October 20 keeping up with of FIFA’s settlement exclusive board – declared tardy on Friday following strain from dominant county and us federations.

“Delaying the scheduled election would only postpone needed change and create further instability”, the prince said in a statement from Amman. It had been speculated that the ethics committee may not be able to complete its work before the provisional suspension had expired, thus allowing both to return before an extraordinary Congress on 26 February.

Prince Ali was beaten by Blatter in June’s election but, having won a fifth term as president, the Swiss announced he would lay down his mandate in the midst of a corruption scandal that has engulfed the organisation.

German soccer (DFB) chief Wolfgang Niersbach has said he wants to play an active role in restructuring world football but stopped short of hinting at a run for the crisis-hit FIFA’s presidency next year.

FIFA’s executive committee “should not interfere with an ongoing process that was put in place by the ad hoc electoral committee”, Prince Ali said.

FIFA’s executive committee, where the Jordanian royal was a member until May, could decide at next week’s meeting to postpone the scheduled February 26 poll. Candidates have had plenty of time to declare and still do.

Separately, FIFA’s ethics investigators received the documents that form the Swiss criminal investigation and conducted hours of interviews with Blatter and Platini.

If Platini’s credibility is deemed beyond rescue then UEFA will have to consider finding another European candidate at short notice.

As honorary president of UEFA, also Johansson attends executive meetings of the European body and said regarding the 2011 payment: “I would have expected this payment to be reported to UEFA”.