Blatter loses appeal against ban

LAUSANNE, December 5 

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has lost his appeal against a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake the world soccer body, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday.

CAS ruled that Blatter had authorised payments to former European football boss Michel Platini worth over $2 million that amounted to “undue gifts” and therefore violated FIFA’s code of ethics.

Blatter resigned in June last year after several dozen football officials, including FIFA executive committee members and former members, were indicted in the United States on graft charges.

The 80-year-old Swiss was not among those indicted, but became embroiled in a scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA’s Ethics Committee along with Platini,  then president of the European soccer body UEFA.

CAS said in a statement that its three-man panel had determined that Blatter “breached the FIFA code of ethics since the payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis”. “The panel further found that Blatter unlawfully awarded contributions to Platini under the FIFA Executive Committee retirement scheme which also amounted to an undue gifts,” said CAS.

Meanwhile, Swiss prosecutors have also begun investigating Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. —  Reuters