PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Sepp Blatter mulls legal action against FIFA
Zurich, Switzerland (PANA) - Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he is considering legal action against football's global governing body in an attempt to clear his name.
Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, was handed a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake world soccer's governing body in 2015.
The 81-year-old said while "for the time being there is no legal action", he and his lawyers were working on a potential case.
"My aim is to look into the decision of FIFA's Ethics Committee in view of information, and even evidences that I have received, in the meantime, in connection with my suspension," Blatter said via email.
It is likely that any legal action from Blatter will take place in Swiss civil courts.
In December 2016, Blatter lost an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the ban, which ruled that he had authorised payments to Michel Platini, then the European football boss, worth more than US$2 million that amounted to "undue gifts" and therefore violated FIFA's code of ethics.
Blatter had resigned in June 2015 after several dozen football officials, including FIFA executive committee members and former members, were indicted in the United States on graft charges, along with two sports marketing firms.
Blatter was not among those indicted, but became embroiled in scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA's Ethics Committee along with Platini.
The men were banned, initially for eight years, over the payment made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval, for work done a decade earlier. The bans were reduced to six years by FIFA's appeals committee in February 2016.
Swiss Blatter, who has denied all charges, had compared the FIFA Ethics Committee investigation to "the inquisition".
In 2015, Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation but no charges have yet been brought.
The man who headed FIFA from 1998 to 2015 says he intends to attend June's World Cup after being invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 2Feb2018
Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, was handed a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake world soccer's governing body in 2015.
The 81-year-old said while "for the time being there is no legal action", he and his lawyers were working on a potential case.
"My aim is to look into the decision of FIFA's Ethics Committee in view of information, and even evidences that I have received, in the meantime, in connection with my suspension," Blatter said via email.
It is likely that any legal action from Blatter will take place in Swiss civil courts.
In December 2016, Blatter lost an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the ban, which ruled that he had authorised payments to Michel Platini, then the European football boss, worth more than US$2 million that amounted to "undue gifts" and therefore violated FIFA's code of ethics.
Blatter had resigned in June 2015 after several dozen football officials, including FIFA executive committee members and former members, were indicted in the United States on graft charges, along with two sports marketing firms.
Blatter was not among those indicted, but became embroiled in scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA's Ethics Committee along with Platini.
The men were banned, initially for eight years, over the payment made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval, for work done a decade earlier. The bans were reduced to six years by FIFA's appeals committee in February 2016.
Swiss Blatter, who has denied all charges, had compared the FIFA Ethics Committee investigation to "the inquisition".
In 2015, Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation but no charges have yet been brought.
The man who headed FIFA from 1998 to 2015 says he intends to attend June's World Cup after being invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 2Feb2018
