Banned FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA counterpart Michel Platini have had their suspensions reduced from eight to six years by the Appeal Committee, it has been announced today.
The duo had been given eight-year bans from football by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee in December of last year over an alleged “disloyal” payment of CHF2 million (£1.5 million/$2 million/€1.8 million) made to the Frenchman by the Swiss in 2011.
Their appeal over the original sentencing has been rejected and they are both still expected to contest their respective suspensions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In a statement, FIFA said the Appeal Committee “determined that some strong mitigating factors were not taken into account when establishing the sanction”.
“In this sense, amongst others, the Appeal Committee considered that Mr Platini’s and Mr Blatter’s activities and the services they had rendered to FIFA, UEFA and football in general over the years should deserve appropriate recognition as a mitigating factor,” the statement added.
The Investigatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee’s appeal over the the ruling laid down by the Adjudicatory Chamber, which claimed the initial punishments given to the pair were too lenient, has also been dismissed.
The Appeal Committee supported the view of the Adjudicatory Chamber and found that the allegations against the 80-year-old Swiss and the former France international did not breach article 21 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which deals with bribery and corruption.
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