In what can be seen as a strong reform-oriented move, the FIFA Ethics Committee is seeking life bans for the provisionally banned Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, sources told CNN-IBN on Tuesday.
CNN-IBN has learnt that the Ethics Committee is likely to push for a life ban at a hearing before Christmas. The committee led by German judge Hans Joachim Eckert has opened proceedings in the matter and a decision is expected only next month.
The FIFA Investigatory Committee recommended sanctions of a minimum of a 7-year ban in their report against Blatter and Platini on the matter of the 'disloyal payment' dating back to 2011.
The recommended sanctions are understood to be based on the allegation that Platini agreed to undertake a specific action in return for the £1.35 million he received shortly before Blatter was re-elected for a fourth term. At the time the Swiss was facing a potential challenge for the FIFA presidency from the Asian Football Confederation president, Mohamed bin Hammam.
The report looks into the matters of financial transgressions and mismanagement against both. Both administrators have been charged with four offences over a ‘disloyal payment’.
Platini and Blatter have accepted there was no written contract for the payment, said to be related to work undertaken by the Frenchman as a special adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002, but have denied wrongdoing.
Platini has claimed Blatter told him at the time that FIFA could not afford to pay him, despite the governing body making £78 million over that four-year cycle.
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