Blatter defiant after ban

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he won’t give up his position without a fight, even after soccer’s ruling body banished him for eight years for unethical conduct. “I will fight. I will fight until the end,” Blatter said Monday at a news conference, which started 90 minutes after he and former protege Michel Platini were each banned by FIFA’s ethics committee. The removals resulted over a $2 million payment by FIFA to Platini, the president of UEFA, European soccer’s ruling body. The payment is also the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland. “I’m sad. It can’t go on this way. It’s not possible,” said Blatter, 79, who has spent more than half his life working for soccer’s governing body. “After 40 years, it can’t happen this way. I’m fighting to restore my rights.” Already serving a provisional ban, the elected FIFA president and his longtime likely successor were kicked out of the sport just two months before 209 member federations elect a new leader. Platini, a FIFA vice president, described the proceedings as a “true mockery.” Their offenses were judged to be a conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA. They avoided life bans because corruption was not proven. Blatter invoked Nelson Mandela within a minute of his news conference, pointing to the spot where the iconic South African leader had lifted the World Cup trophy 11 years ago, when his country was chosen as the host nation for the 2010 tournament. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, the Nobel organization and the United Nations were also referenced in a 52-minute performance as he held court with more than 100 journalists. His last words were, “I’ll be back, thank you.”