Just In: UEFA President, Michel Platini Loses Suspension Appeal

 

Michel Platini, the UEFA president provisionally banned over a £1.35m “disloyal payment” from his FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter, has failed in his bid to have his interim suspension lifted.

 

The Frenchman had hoped to be able to attend this weekend’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris after applying to the court of arbitration for sport against his original 90 day provisional ban. But the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruled that the decision by FIFA’s ethics committee should stand ahead of a final ruling next week on the facts of the case.

 

The CAS did, however, caution FIFA against extending the provisional suspension beyond the current 90 days. Under its rules, the ethics committee could have added an extra 45 days to the ban, but the CAS panel said this would have have been unfair to Platini. In the event, the argument is a moot one because the ethics committee has promised to deliver its verdict before Christmas.

 

Both Platini and Blatter will next week attend a hearing in front of ethics committee judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, who will rule on whether the lifetime bans requested against both men by the investigatory chamber should be applied.

 

The interim 90-day suspensions were announced in September after Swiss police opened a criminal investigation against Blatter and questioned Platini as a “person between a witness and a suspect” over a £1.35m payment in 2011.