FIFA President Appeals Suspension

(ATR) Sepp Blatter has lodged an appeal to his 90-day suspension, one of his lawyers confirmed to Around the Rings.

Blatter's controversial 17-year reign at the helm of world football came to a crashing end on Thursday after he was banned pending an inquiry into corruption allegations. UEFA chief Michel Platini and FIFA No.2 Jerome Valcke were also punished with the same provisional ban, which could be extended an additional 45 days.

Late Thursday, the New York Times reported that Blatter’s Swiss and US lawyers had filed an official appeal against the ruling made against the three FIFA officials by Hans-Joachim Eckert, the German judge who heads the FIFA ethics adjudicatory chamber. One of Blatter’s US lawyers confirmed to Around the Rings that the appeal had been lodged

Blatter’s lawyers have reportedly demanded to examine the case file that the FIFA ethics committee’s investigatory arm had reviewed.They maintain that the ethics ruling was linked mostly to the Swiss attorney general’s criminal investigation into the 79-year-old and was far too premature.

Lawyers for the embattled FIFA president are also demanding a hearing so they can present their side of the story.

Platini could file an official appeal today.

Despite the ban that was effective immediately, the Frenchman released a statement through UEFA on Thursday saying he would contest the decision in apparent defiance of the ban, while another statement said his executive committee was fully behind him as he sought to clear his name.

"I reject all of the allegations that have been made against me, which are based on mere semblances and are astonishingly vague," he said."Indeed, the wording of those allegations merely states that a breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics ‘seems to have been committed’ and that a decision on the substance of the matter cannot be taken immediately.

"Despite the farcical nature of these events, I refuse to believe that this is a political decision taken in haste in order to taint a lifelong devotee of the game or crush my candidacy for the FIFA presidency.

"I want everyone to know my state of mind: more than a sense of injustice or a desire for revenge, I am driven by a profound feeling of staunch defiance. I am more determined than ever to defend myself before the relevant judicial bodies."

Recognising that he was flouting the terms of the ethics ban by communicating through UEFA channels, Platini dropped his defiant stance and said he would not be performing official duties as head of European football. He has cancelled several official trips.

Blatter was placed under criminal investigation last Friday over suspicions he made a "disloyal" $2 million payment to Platini in 2011 and striking a World Cup TV rights contract with disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner that was "unfavourable to FIFA". Platini has yet to properly explain why it took nine years for the payment to executed for consultancy work he did between 1998 and 2002.

Pressure is mounting on FIFA to convene an emergency executive committee meeting.

The reputation of world football's governing body lies in tatters, with the organisation now being run largely by lawyers. However, FIFA's senior vice president Issa Hayatou was named acting president on Thursday. His more than two decades at FIFA and as head of African football is littered with scandals, not least the Qatar World Cup bid bribery allegations, which he has vehemently denied.

Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and United States Soccer Federation chief Sunil Gulati are among those from FIFA's ruling body who are urging Hayatou to hold an emergency ExCo meeting.

Salman said that the meeting was vital to bring stability to world football: "These are exceptional circumstances and that is why we need the meeting. Only together will we overcome these difficult times.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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