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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Blatter Files Appeal Against 90-Day Suspension As FIFA's Reform Act Takes Serious Turn

FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Thursday night "filed an official appeal" against a provisional, 90-day suspension handed down earlier in the day, calling it "brusque, and unfair, treatment," according to Sam Borden of the N.Y. TIMES. Blatter's legal team in the appeal demanded an "opportunity to see the case file the ethics committee reviewed during its proceedings -- a request that reflected a belief that the ethics committee’s decision was based almost entirely on the fact that the Swiss attorney general’s office recently opened an investigation into Mr. Blatter." The letter "also demands a hearing that would allow Mr. Blatter and his lawyers to argue the merits of their case in full." Blatter prior to the suspension was allowed to defend himself "only in a short interview with investigators." Thursday's suspensions of Blatter, FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke and UEFA President Michel Platini "took effect immediately," though Platini challenged his ban and UEFA "released a statement implying that it would not enforce it." A source said that Platini "was expected to follow a path similar to Mr. Blatter’s with regard to his appeal." Borden note the suspensions "leave FIFA, as well as UEFA, in disarray." FIFA ExecCo members David Gill and Wolfgang Niersbach "called for an emergency meeting as soon as possible." All 54 member associations of UEFA "were also expected to have their own hasty summit, as soon as next week." FIFA interim President Issa Hayatou promised that he "would not seek the FIFA presidency permanently in February." If UEFA removed Platini, "even temporarily, it would be led by Ángel María Villar of Spain." Villar is thought to be "facing an inquiry by FIFA’s ethics committee over allegations that he was not forthcoming during a previous investigation into allegations of corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/9). The English FA on Thursday night "remained supportive" of Platini. FA Chair Greg Dyke insisted that Platini "retained his backing even while his and other national associations began to consider contingency plans in case the Frenchman is barred from standing for election as Blatter’s successor" (LONDON TIMES, 10/9). 

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: REUTERS' Evans & Franklin reported if Platini "is not able to overturn his ban and join" the FIFA election race, it would leave Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan as the "clear favourite, unless other candidates now emerge to take advantage of the Frenchman's troubles." South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale has said that he "is considering running." Sources last week said that Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa "would consider standing if Platini was ruled out." Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach said that FIFA "should consider an external candidate to succeed Blatter" (REUTERS, 10/8). ESPN FC's Gabriele Marcotti said the "big question is what happens if these two candidates -- Prince Ali and Platini -- enter the race and the suspension is extended to February, when they have the actual election. Marcotti: "Will they elect somebody who is suspended?” (“OTL,” ESPN, 10/8).

TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE
: In London, Matt Dickinson writes Thursday's suspensions "should have felt like a historic moment as Blatter was forced to leave his office in ignominy after 17 years as president, the toppling of an old-world despot, but there were no ecstatic crowds running through FIFA House liberating the place." The old guard "does not fall but staggers on." Such is the confusion that people "could not even agree" if Thursday's moves "came as a relief or not" (LONDON TIMES, 10/9). USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes in the "murky cesspool that is FIFA ... everybody needs to go." ExecCo members, "the congress, the folks waiting in the wings to have their pockets lined -- all of them." There "might be one or two honorable people at FIFA who could lead the clean-up efforts ... but the corruption and fraud is so endemic, so systemic, that everyone is tainted" (USA TODAY, 10/9). In N.Y., Juliet Macur writes if FIFA "were a building, it would have been condemned by now." There "doesn’t seem to be anybody left to oversee the job." FIFA "has to stop trying to fix itself by making piecemeal and temporary repairs." It "must knock itself to the ground and rebuild itself anew, with strong, uncompromised parts" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/9). A LONDON TIMES editorial states the suspensions are "welcome" but "also overdue." Their suspensions "must be final and, with it, FIFA must grasp the opportunity to reform its institutions, stamp out corruption and embrace transparency in its practice, including in its election of a new president" (LONDON TIMES, 10/9). In London, Paul Hayward writes with FIFA's three most powerful execs "now on the podium of alleged infamy, FIFA has ceased to exist in any moral or bureaucratic sense and needs to be taken over by the Swiss government like a corrupt bank" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/9).

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