Blatter pledges fight to finish
BANISHED from soccer’s ruling body for eight years for unethical conduct, Sepp Blatter won’t give up the presidency of his beloved FIFA without a fight.
“I will fight. I will fight until the end,” Blatter said on Monday at a news conference that started 90 minutes after he and former protege Michel Platini were each banned by FIFA’s ethics committee.
It was a stunning removal of world soccer’s most powerful leaders over a $2 million payment by FIFA to Platini, the president of European soccer’s ruling body UEFA.
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 scandal-hit 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 would-be successor were kicked out of the sport just two months before 209 member federations elect a new leader.
Platini, a FIFA vice-president whose bid to succeed Blatter on February 26 now looks over, described the proceedings as a “true mockery”.
Their offences were judged to be conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA.
They avoided life bans because corruption was not proven.
Platini’s lawyer, Thibaud d’Ales, said it came as no surprise the corruption charge had been dropped.
“They used it with the sole purpose of dirtying Michel Platini, although they knew was an untenable argument,” D’Ales said.
Guilty verdicts were expected. So were the subsequent denials of wrongdoing and promises of urgent appeals to 1998 Sepp Blatter wins presidency of FIFA amid allegations of vote buying, which he has always denied. 2002 Admits he ended investigation into FIFA finances to protect FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Blatter’s defiant display was a bonus for international media summoned to FIFA’s former headquarters, close to the new building where he spent eight hours with four ethics judges last Thursday.
The choice of venue hinted at a vintage Blatter show. He did not disappoint.
Blatter invoked Nelson Mandela within a minute, pointing to the spot where the former South African leader had lifted the World Cup trophy 11 years ago, when his country was chosen to host the 2010 tournament.
Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, the Nobel organisation and the United Nations were also referenced in a spirited 52-minute performance as he held court with more than 100 journalists.
His last words were “I’ll be back. Thank you.”
Blatter’s trademark fighting talk was delivered while still sporting a strip of surgical tape on his right cheek after a minor operation to remove a mole.
The Swiss made it clear he regretted his current position but declared he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“I am not ashamed,” he said. “I am sorry that I am a punching ball. I am sorry for football ... I am now suspended eight years. Suspended eight years for what?”
Platini was also dismissive of the ethics commission’s work.
He said its proceedings, which included a hearing earlier this month that he did not attend, had been “orchestrated ... by governing bodies that I know well” to tarnish him.
“I’m convinced that my fate was sealed before the December 18 hearing and this decision is just another pathetic manoeuvre to hide a true will of taking me out of the football world,” the former French international said.
“My behaviour has always been faultless and I’m at peace with my own conscience.” members accused of wrongdoing. Awards Oceania direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup, only to reverse the decision six months later under pressure from South American nations. 2006 Vice-president Jack Warner is accused of huge fraud over resale of tickets to the World Cup in Germany, but given only a slap on the wrist. 2010 Allocation of 2018 and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar arouses suspicions of bidrigging. Blatter apparently votes for Australia. 2011 Re-elected after challenger, Qatar’s Mohammed bin Hammam, is forced to withdraw when it emerges he attempted to buy votes. 2014 Independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia quits over handling of his report into 2018/22 bids.