UEFA President Michel Platini provisionally banned over a $2M "disloyal payment" from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, "has failed in his bid to have his interim suspension lifted," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. Platini "hoped to be able to attend Saturday’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris after applying to the court of arbitration for sport against his original 90-day provisional ban." But the CAS ruled that the decision by FIFA’s ethics committee "should stand before a final ruling next week on the facts of the case." The CAS did, however, caution FIFA "against extending the provisional suspension beyond the current 90 days." Under its rules, the ethics committee "could have added an extra 45 days to the ban," but the CAS panel said that "this would have been unfair to Platini." Platini's Lawyer Thibaud d’Alès said that his client was "satisfied with the ruling." He said, “Michel Platini notes with satisfaction that CAS partially granted his request when it demanded that FIFA not extend his ban. In substance, he is confident that his case is solid.” Euro 2016 President Jacques Lambert, who stood down from FIFA's ethics committee because of his friendship with Platini, said that "he was disappointed that the appeal had not been granted." Lambert: "Michel Platini has lost a battle today but he has not lost the war" (GUARDIAN, 12/11). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported Platini's legal team "were confidant Platini would be cleared when a FIFA ethics committee makes its final ruling on his case, which is expected to happen just before Christmas." UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, who has declared his candidacy for the FIFA presidency, supported Platini's "rights to a due process." Infantino: "Patience is a virtue of the strong, we have no influence over the legal case, so we must wait for a decision" (REUTERS, 12/11).
ANALYSIS: BBC Radio 5's Richard Conway opined, "Platini is trying to provide evidence to show he is innocent, but what the court was asked to do in this case was not look at the facts but at whether it was fair to exclude him from the presidential election process. Platini wants to succeed Sepp Blatter in February but at the moment he's banned completely from all footballing activity, so he can't be a candidate" (BBC, 12/11).
PLATINI REACTION: L’ÉQUIPE reported Platini was "outraged on Friday by the statements made by FIFA ethics committee spokesperson Andreas Bantel." Bantel said that Platini is "definitely facing several years of suspension." A statement from Platini's camp said, "These words are a patent violation of the presumption of innocence. They show however the political objective pursued by the ethics committee, for which contradictory debate and the hearing that it has itself arranged for December 18 will clearly not be of any use. Mr. Platini, whose sanction seems to have already been arranged by the FIFA ethics committee even before the explanations have been heard, firmly denounces these practices which bring to light the sham of the procedure of which he has been the subject for weeks" (L’ÉQUIPE, 12/11). The AFP reported d’Alès said that Platini "may refuse to attend a FIFA hearing to defend himself against misconduct accusations" after hearing Bantel's comments. Platini's lawyers said that it "may not be worth him attending the Zurich hearings this week." D’Alès said, "The question of Michel Platni's presence, while not yet decided, has been raised." The lawyer said that Bantel's quotes proved that FIFA's investigation was "a masquerade." D’Alès: "It is a political tribunal that condemns even before being judged and executes in public" (AFP, 12/12).
