Sepp Blatter provisionally suspended by FIFA: Reports

Ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert will take the final decision on the fates of Blatter and Platini, who were questioned as part of a Swiss criminal investigation last week. (Source: AP)

FIFA PRESIDENT Sepp Blatter has been provisionally suspended for 90 days, BBC reported late on Wednesday evening. Members of FIFA’s ethics committee met this week after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against 79-year-old Blatter last month. His adviser Klauss Stohlker told BBC Sport:

“The news was communicated to the president this afternoon. He is calm. Remember he is the father of the ethics committee. This is provisional for 90 days but he is not actually suspended. The committee has not yet made a decision and their meetings continue.” Abdoulaye Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese member of the executive committee’s adjudicatory chamber, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Blatter and Platini cases were being discussed at meetings in Zurich this week.

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Ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert will take the final decision on the fates of Blatter and Platini, who were questioned as part of a Swiss criminal investigation last week. Blatter is a suspect but Platini was questioned as between witness and accused person over a payment he received from FIFA in 2011. The statement from Diop also said the committee was evaluating the case of former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon. The South Korean has already confirmed he was being investigated for breaches relating to South Korea’s failed bid for the 2022 World Cup and for openly criticizing the investigation.

Ethics committee spokesman Marc Tenbuecken declined to comment on the cases, despite Diop’s statement. “We are strictly limited in our possibilities to communicate ongoing procedures,” Tenbuecken was quoted as saying.

Earlier, Blatter said a Swiss criminal investigation against him was “not correct” and defended his decision not to step down sooner as head of the world soccer body, according to a German magazine. Blatter, under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities, has held the presidency of world soccer’s governing body since 1998 and previously served since 1981 as secretary general, the organization’s No. 2 position.

“The situation is not pleasant,” the weekly, Bunte, quoted Blatter as saying in an interview.

“I am being condemned without there being any evidence for wrongdoing on my part. That is really outrageous.” Four days after winning a fifth term, Blatter rocked the world of soccer in June by saying he would step down in the wake of corruption investigations by U.S. and Swiss authorities. He remains in office ahead of a scheduled February election.

He reiterated in the Bunte interview that he had no plans for an immediate resignation, despite coordinated calls by major sponsors last week for such a move.

Chung takes aim

FIFA presidential hopeful Chung Mong-joon, who says he is facing a 15-year ban from the game, said on Wednesday that if he was guilty of attempted vote-rigging, then Britain’s Prime Minister and Prince William should face charges with him.

Chung, who also said he would sue “hypocrite and liar” Sepp Blatter for embezzlement over his salary and expenses, denied he had behaved improperly during the awarding of World Cup hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Brushing aside claims he had attempted to strike a deal with England during that process, which saw Russia and Qatar win hosting rights, Chung said the meeting in question had been attended by David Cameron, the British prince and then English FA representative, Geoff Thompson.

“Then they should try all these people, Prince William and Prime Minister Cameron too,” he told the ‘Leaders in Sport Business’ event in London.

Chung said he was being charged with violating the FIFA ethics code on six counts. If found guilty, he would not be able to stand in the election to find a successor to Blatter.

FIFA’s Ethics Committee has declined to comment on Chung’s allegations.

Turning his fire on the outgoing head of world soccer, Chung said he had called on Blatter to declare his salary and expenses during a FIFA meeting in 2002. The Swiss has never done so.

“For him to get paid without Exco (executive committee) approval is embezzlement. This is why I am going to sue Mr Blatter,” Chung said.

“Mr Blatter, in short, is a hypocrite and a liar,” Chung added, saying he would give back any amount he won in court to FIFA’s development programmes.

FIFA declined to comment on Chung’s speech referring inquires to Blatter’s lawyer, who was not immediately available for comment.