‘ Eight years is like death sentence’

Zurich, Dec. 21: The eight- year bans handed down to disgraced football chiefs Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini received mixed reactions on Monday.

Some felt the former heads of Fifa and Uefa had got off lightly, while others criticised the length of the suspensions as too “harsh”.

Former Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan, who occupied that position when Asia hosted its first ever World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002, said the length of the bans was like a “death sentence”.

“This is very harsh, especially for Blatter because he dedicated his life to football and Fifa,” said Velappan.

“It’s unfortunate that the bribery scandal happened and you can’t take away the blame from him either but still, eight years is too harsh. Eight years is like a death sentence.”

Velappan backed the pair’s record in boosting football in Asia and said that should have been taken into consideration.

“Blatter and Platini are football personalities and you have to look at the contributions they have made to the game,” he added.

“A one or two- year ban would have been understandable. This is very unkind.

“They have both done a lot for the AFC and football.”

However, for Spanish Football League president Javier Tebas, the bans should have been longer.

“Eight years, that doesn’t seem much to me. Platini’s sanction... Is due to the fact that they didn’t respect the normal Fifa internal procedures,” he said.

“Bypassing economic controls is very serious and the sanction should ensure they can never again exercise power in a sporting institution.”