Paris: Fifa’s ethics watchdog wants Michel Platini banned for life over a suspect payment, the European football chief’s lawyer said on Tuesday. Platini, a Fifa vice president, is already serving a 90-day suspension while an investigation is held into a $2 million sum he received from Fifa president Sepp Blatter who is also suspended.
Platini’s lawyer Thibaud d’Ales revealed the Fifa’s life ban demand which he described as a “scandal” and “excessive”. “This ban is subject to the proof of corruption, but the punishment is clearly excessive,” D’Ales said.
“It’s not based on anything in the case.” Blatter’s representatives refused to comment on whether the same request has been made against the Swiss official. Fifa’s adjudicatory chamber announced on Monday that it has opened a case against Blatter and Platini and that it was aiming to announce a decision next month.
Both men have denied any wrongdoing though they admit there was no contract for the payment. Until a decision is taken, Platini, the president of Uefa, cannot take part in the race to become Blatter’s successor as president of Fifa.
D’Ales maintained there was a concerted effort inside Fifa to prevent Platini taking part. The French newspaper Liberation first revealed the life ban demand and the lawyer said this was a deliberate leak.
“It’s a pure scandal, and by making it public there’s clearly an intention to cause harm. The masks are slipping one by one — there is a strategy to get rid of Platini as a candidate.”
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