Blatter vowed to fight on at a court appearance in the summer
Keystone
The disgraced former head of football’s world governing body, Sepp Blatter, has lost his latest appeal to have his ban from football overturned.
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swissinfo.ch and agencies
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne said on Monday it was upholding a decision to suspend Blatter for six years.
The 80-year-old Swiss was given the temporary ban last year after a string of corruption allegations.
FIFA’s ethics committee first banned Blatter for eight years in December 2015, before the time was reduced to six. He was suspended over authorising a $2 million (CHF2 million) payment to former FIFA vice-president Michel Platini in 2011. They claimed it was for backdated and uncontracted work Platini did in advising Blatter from 1999 to 2002.
In a statement on Monday the court said Blatter had “breached the FIFA code of ethics since the payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis”.
It continued that the former football boss had “unlawfully awarded contributions to Mr Platini under the FIFA Executive Committee retirement scheme which also amounted to an undue gift”.
Additional probe
Blatter had been in charge of FIFA for 17 years until his resignation in June 2015. His eventual suspension meant he was not allowed to be involved in any football-related activities.
Blatter is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Swiss Attorney General’s office, which opened criminal proceedings against him in September last year. The probe centres on a suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, regarding television broadcasting rights sold in 2005 for the World Cups in South Africa and Brazil.
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Attorney General opens criminal proceedings against Blatter
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The Swiss Attorney General's office has opened criminal proceedings against outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter. He is being investigated on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation.
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FIFA ethics court bans Blatter and Platini for eight years
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Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini look set to appeal a FIFA ethics court decision to ban them from football for eight years.
Blatter accused of rigging millions in suspect bonuses
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Law firm Quinn Emanuel, hired by FIFA to investigate alleged corruption within world football’s governing body, released on Friday details of apparent fiduciary malpractice. The document claims that contracts were drawn up to inflate salaries, bonuses and severance clauses. Besides Blatter, who is currently serving a six-year ban from all football activities, the payments are…
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The Swiss justice authorities say the French Financial Prosecution Office carried out the search in line with the request, and seized documents in connection with a suspected payment of CHF2 million ($2 million) that has been the subject of allegations against Blatter. The Swiss attorney general was present during the search. The French prosecutor’s office…
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“Sepp is really a strong point for Valais and Upper Valais [region],” said Peter Schmid, one of the locals at the annual Sepp Blatter football tournament willing to talk to swissinfo.ch. “He’s a real Valaisan, who is never scared to contact anyone, and to speak with anyone. He’s a very down-to-earth man.” The event was…
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World football’s governing body has selected a presidential election date for choosing a successor to Sepp Blatter, who was poised to announce his plans for reforming the organisation.
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But on May 27, 15 minutes after he woke up, his morning routine was broken by a phone call. Swiss police, acting on extradition requests from the US Department of Justice, launched a raid on Zurich’s Baur-au-Lac hotel and arrested seven senior FIFA officials on suspicion of taking more than $100m of bribes between them. …
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.