Blatter, Platini banned for eight years

A FIFA ethics tribunal banned Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for eight years each on Monday, saying they had abused their positions over a 2 million Swiss francs payment made to Platini in 2011 for work as a consultant carried out between 1999 and 2002.

Blatter spent eight hours before a FIFA court last Thursday while Platini boycotted his hearing saying he had been "condemned" in advance.

Blatter, 79, and Platini, 60, were then "immediately" banned from all football activity. Blatter's career is now almost certainly over while Platini's hopes of taking over FIFA are all but finished.

Blatter, FIFA's president since 1998, was fined 50,000 Swiss francs while Platini, the head of UEFA, was fined 80,000 Swiss francs.

Blatter plans to appeal the ban, which was made clear as he said: "I will fight for me and I will fight for FIFA," adding he would take his objections to FIFA's appeals body, go before the Lausanne-based sports arbitration panel, or take legal action under Swiss law if needed. The Ex- FIFA president said he had been "betrayed" by investigators and had been treated like a "punching ball" as well.

He condemned the FIFA court for not accepting his explanations. "Something that is not true cannot be proven," he said, declaring that he would be "combative".

While on the on the other hand Platini voiced similar thoughts by stating, that the FIFA decision was a 'masquerade' intended to 'sully' his name.

He went on to say, "I am convinced that my fate was sealed before the hearing of December 18 and that this verdict is just a pathetic coverup for a desire to eliminate me from the world of football.

"Parallel to going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I am determined to apply, at the right time, to civil courts to obtain damages for all the prejudice I have suffered," Platini said.

A statement by the FIFA tribunal said Blatter and Platini were guilty of "abusive execution" of their powers.

While the FIFA court dropped corruption charges against both men, it said both were guilty of a conflict of interests.

It said there was "no legal basis" for the payment in a written agreement in August 1999.

"Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment. His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber."

The court said "Mr Blatter's actions did not show commitment to an ethical attitude, and demonstrated an abusive execution of his position as President of FIFA".

The judgement was even more damning of the French football legend than for Blatter.

"Mr Platini failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities.

Blatter and Platini were provisionally suspended in October after Swiss prosecutors started a criminal investigation into the cash transfer.

Blatter is under criminal investigation and Platini is being treated as between a suspect and a witness.