FIFA Bans Blatter and Platini From Soccer for Eight Years
- Platini was vying to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president
- Blatter fined 50,000 Swiss francs, Platini fined 80,000 francs
Sepp Blatter arrives for a news conference at FIFA's former headquarters in Sonnenberg, Zurich, on Dec. 21, 2015.
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FIFA banned President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini for eight years over an unauthorized 2 million-Swiss franc ($2 million) payment, ending Platini’s chances of taking over the sport’s governing body.
Blatter was unable to demonstrate any “legal basis” for the payment in 2011, while Platini’s assertion of an oral agreement was rejected, the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee said Monday in a statement. Blatter was fined 50,000 francs and Platini 80,000 francs and the bans take effect immediately.