bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

Sepp Blatter has lost his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a six-year ban by Fifa.
Blatter said in a statement on Monday it is “difficult” to accept but that “the way the case progressed, no other verdict could be expected.”
The former Fifa president, who was banned for approving a US$2 million payment to Michel Platini in 2011, said he will accept the decision.
“I have experienced much in my 41 years in Fifa. I mostly learned that you can win in sport, but you can also lose,” Blatter said. “Nevertheless I look back with gratitude to all the years, in which I was able to realise my ideals for football and serve Fifa.”
The verdict ends Blatter’s hopes of becoming honorary president of the soccer body he left in disgrace.
Blatter could have appealed the CAS ruling to Switzerland’s supreme court. It can annul verdicts if legal process was abused.
Still, his legal problems are far from over.
Blatter now faces a separate Fifa ethics investigation into suspected bribery linked to multi-million dollar bonuses in top executives’ contracts. Swiss prosecutors also opened criminal proceedings against Blatter for the Platini payment, and a sale of World Cup television rights.
Blatter denies any wrongdoing.

Blatter said Monday it was “incomprehensible” that his claim of having a verbal agreement in 1998 was not accepted “in spite of my testimony to the contrary and the testimony given by other witnesses.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport was judging whether Blatter was guilty of unethically offering a cash gift and conflict of interest with Platini, who was a Fifa vice president in 2011.
The shameless vs the shameless: Why it’s only a matter of time before US government ensnares Sepp Blatter
Blatter and Platini both said the US$2 million was uncontracted salary based on a verbal agreement more than a decade earlier. From 1999 to 2002, the former France great was the newly elected Blatter’s presidential adviser.
However, their explanation of a salary deal was doubted by FIFA ethics judges, and by the three-member CAS panel on Monday.

“The payment amounted to an undue gift as it had no contractual basis,” CAS said in a statement.
The Fifa ethics committee investigated after the payment emerged in September 2015 during a wider Swiss federal probe of alleged corruption linked to Fifa.
Sepp Blatter must go: Calls grow for beleaguered Fifa president to end his reign
Blatter and Platini – whose Fifa presidential bid was stalled, then ended, by the case – were banned from soccer duty for eight years last December. The Fifa appeal committee cut two years from both men’s bans as “appropriate recognition” for their long service.
After a separate CAS appeal hearing, Platini’s ban was reduced in May to four years, ensuring he lost the Uefa presidency.
When Blatter’s case came to CAS in August, Platini testified on his behalf during a 14-hour hearing.


Fifa World Cup: Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 to finish third in Qatar

Corruption in sport: researchers seek positive outcomes from real scandals to help ‘restore trust’ among fans

Match-fixing: 160 suspicious matches in Asia in 2020 as Covid-19 allows criminals to target vulnerable leagues, Sportradar says

Former Uefa chief Michel Platini arrested after probe into awarding of 2022 World Cup to Qatar

Fifa corruption scandal

Sepp Blatter loses appeal at CAS against six-year Fifa ban

Disgraced former football chief says ruling “difficult” to accept but “no other verdict could be expected” – but troubles far from over for the Swiss

Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS TAS) Secretary-general Matthieu Reeb reads the sentence of the court on an appeal of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter against a six-year ban from football on December 5, 2016 in Lausanne. The CAS maintained the six-year suspension from international football against Blatter who serving a ban over ethics violations relating to a suspect $2 million payment he authorised in 2011 to former UEFA boss Michel Platini. / AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter is seen leaving the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in this file picture taken in Lausanne, Switzerland April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s six-year ban still stands. Photo: AFP

Sport

Football

Disgraced former football chief says ruling “difficult” to accept but “no other verdict could be expected” – but troubles far from over for the Swiss


Fifa