FIFA has told suspended UEFA President Michel Platini that he "cannot bypass its appeals process by challenging his eight-year ban directly" at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, according to the AP. Platini had been hoping to "cut out" the required FIFA appeals procedure as he "races to try to overturn his ban" before the Feb. 26 presidential election. FIFA said it wrote to Platini’s lawyers on Tuesday to confirm that Platini can only go to the CAS if the governing body’s appeals committee "first rejects his request." FIFA rules state a list of candidates "must be finalized one month before the election in Zurich." Platini was banned on Monday for eight years along with FIFA President Sepp Blatter over an '11 payment of £1.35M from FIFA that the president authorized for the former France midfielder (AP, 12/22). In London, Daniel Matthews reported Platini has labeled members of FIFA's ethics committee "pathetic" and suggested the timing of its decision to ban him from football "was influenced by a desire to block him from becoming president of the sport’s governing body." Platini: "The members of the ethics committee have questions to answer over their scheduling, which has prevented me from putting myself forward for the FIFA presidential election in time. They are not ethical, they are pathetic." He added, "What was the FIFA ethics committee doing between 2011 when I was paid and 2015? Was it sleeping? ... Suddenly it wakes up. Ah yes, it wakes up in a FIFA election year when I'm a candidate. It's amazing" (INDEPENDENT, 12/22).
KANNER MAINTAINS SUPPORT: REUTERS' Brian Love reported France Sports Minister Patrick Kanner "publicly questioned the legitimacy of FIFA's ethics committee" after it imposed an eight-year ban that "seriously endangers" Platini's prospects of becoming the next head of FIFA. Kanner said that he still backed Platini and questioned whether he had "been given a fair hearing" by a committee he said was close to the old guard of FIFA. Kanner: "We know very well that FIFA's ethics committee has been very close to the former managers, notably Sepp Blatter ... who is perhaps dragging down with him the man he expected to be his successor but who was not always the man he wanted to see take his place" (REUTERS, 12/22).
SEXWALE FACES QUESTIONS: The BBC's Richard Conway reported FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale has appeared before a U.S. grand jury in New York "as part of an on-going investigation into World Cup bribes." The BBC has learned that he was questioned in relation to an alleged $10M corrupt payment from South Africa to ex-FIFA VP Jack Warner. Sexwale appeared as a potential witness at the FBI's request on Dec. 17. He was a member of the bid board that "successfully campaigned for his home country to host the 2010 World Cup." A spokesperson for Sexwale said, "He did appear before a grand jury. The FBI said he needed to appear and he went as a potential witness" (BBC, 12/21).
VAN PRAAG CALLS FOR CLEANUP: DUTCH NEWS reported Dutch FA (KNVB) Chair Michael van Praag said the sport’s governing bodies "must clean up their act" following the suspensions of Blatter and Platini. Van Praag said the strong punishments showed that FIFA had the capacity to "put its house in order and pressed for anti-corruption measures to be put in place." In a statement, the KNVB described the development as "the latest low point in the activities and the perception of Fifa in particular, but also Uefa, because of Platini’s personal involvement." Van Praag said, "But we need to follow through on that front. I can see a number of real intentions on FIFA’s agenda to clean up and modernize the organization. I am pleased to recognize more or less the whole of the plan I put forward during my campaign to become FIFA chairman" (DUTCH NEWS, 12/21).
'NO WAY BACK': In Sydney, Ray Gatt reported Australian-based anti-FIFA corruption campaigner Bonita Mersiades said that there is "no way back" for Blatter and Platini but warns there is "still a long way to go" before the organization is totally cleaned up. Mersiades said that she is "encouraged" by the eight-year suspensions handed to Blatter and Platini. While "delighted with the decision to ban the pair," Mersiades, the co-founder of campaign group #NewFIFANow, is "adamant" FIFAs' problems "run much deeper." She said, "The fact that the FIFA ethics committee has banned Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini for eight years each is an encouraging sign but the extent of FIFA’s problems is much broader and deeper than these two men ... What we are getting now is a FIFA death by a thousand cuts. How low can FIFA’s reputation go? What does it take for FIFA’s stakeholders to say we need to start again?" (NEWS LIMITED, 12/23).
