Sepp Blatter’s controversial 17-year reign over world football appears to be all but over after Fifa’s ethics committee banned him for 90 days along with the man who hoped to succeed him, Michel Platini.
The Uefa president was favourite to succeed Blatter when he stands down in February, until he too become embroiled in corruption allegations. Platini has also been provisionally banned for 90 days, dealing a huge blow to his presidential ambitions.
The latest twist in the Fifa crisis came as the International Olympic Committee added to the growing cries for independent reform, with its president, Thomas Bach, declaring “enough is enough” and calling for an external candidate to take over.
“Fifa must realise that this is now about more than just a list of candidates. This is also a structural problem and will not be solved simply by the election of a new president,” Bach said.
As Uefa’s 54 member nations arranged a crisis meeting in Nyon next week and Platini protested the ban was a calculated move to force him out of the presidential race, the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, said it could withdraw support from the Frenchman if the allegations were proved.
Campaigners including Transparency International pointed to the automatic promotion of Issa Hayatou, the longest serving vice-president once named by Blatter as his most loyal lieutenant, to acting president as evidence of Fifa’s rotten culture.
Both Blatter and Platini have been under extreme pressure since the Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, opened a criminal investigation into allegations the Swiss Fifa president mis-sold a World Cup TV rights contract to the disgraced former Fifa official Jack Warner in 2006.
He is also alleged to have made a “disloyal payment” of £1.3m to Platini, against the interests of Fifa, in 2011. Blatter and Platini, who has been interviewed as “somewhere between a witness and the accused”, deny any wrongdoing.
Platini said he rejected the “astonishingly vague” allegations. “Despite the farcical nature of these events, I refuse to believe that this is a political decision taken in haste in order to taint a lifelong devotee of the game or crush my candidacy for the Fifa presidency,” he said.
“I want everyone to know my state of mind: more than a sense of injustice or a desire for revenge, I am driven by a profound feeling of staunch defiance. I am more determined than ever to defend myself before the relevant judicial bodies.”
Following a ruling by the ethics committee, Fifa announced Blatter had been “relieved of his duties” after four decades at the heart of world football’s governing body.
“Joseph S Blatter, for the duration of the 90-day ban, is not allowed to represent Fifa in any capacity, act on the organisation’s behalf, or communicate to media or other stakeholders as a Fifa representative,” a statement read.
Following an emergency meeting of Uefa’s executive committee, it said it was standing behind Platini. In apparent defiance of Fifa, it said it saw no need for him to be replaced “at this moment in time” as he sought to clear his name.
In addition, the Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke, who has already been put on leave over allegations concerning the sale of World Cup tickets, was also provisionally banned for 90 days. Fifa said the suspensions could be extended for 45 days at the discretion of the ethics committee while investigations continue.
That would mean all three men could return five days before the 26 February extraordinary congress at which Blatter’s successor is to be elected. Valcke has also “unequivocally denied” any wrongdoing.
The former Fifa vice-president Chung Mong-joon, who had threatened to sue Blatter while claiming he was being targeted on spurious grounds by the ethics committee to force him out of the presidential race, has been banned for six years and fined £67,000.
Chung said he would fight the decision and accused the ethics committee of acting as Blatter’s “hitman”. He said the sanctions against him represented the “profoundly irresponsible and unethical nature of Fifa”.
Blatter’s personal lawyers, Lorenz Erni and Richard Cullen, claimed the ethics committee had not followed its own procedures.
Blatter was re-elected in May days after US prosecutors alleged a “World Cup of fraud” in a 164-page indictment and charged 14 individuals, including nine current or former Fifa executives, with a series of offences. Days later he promised to stand down in February 2016 and has repeatedly reiterated his desire to remain in post until then.
Platini is expected to appeal against the suspension in the next two days. Beyond that, he could go to the court of arbitration for sport.
Until now the FA has stood behind Platini, whose candidacy it strongly supported before the allegations became public. But Dyke said it would reconsider if it was proved Platini had “not behaved properly or has behaved dishonestly”.
“I can see why people are saying we should stop supporting him now, but we will follow what the ethics committee decides,” said Dyke.
“Platini claims it’s a fix, but if they decide he has behaved improperly we will not support him and I’m sure I would have the backing of the FA board on that.”
The sports minister, Tracey Crouch, called for “full scale reform” of Fifa. She said: “Blatter has hung on to his position for too long and a new president must drive through widespread change.”
If Platini and Chung are ruled out of the race, the only remaining declared candidate is Prince Ali, the Jordanian royal who failed to unseat Blatter in May.
The Bahrainian Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman, the South African Tokyo Sexwale and the former Brazilian international Zico are also considering whether to stand before the 26 October deadline.
Campaigners, backed by four major US sponsors who on Friday called for Blatter to go now, want to see an independent reform process that would offer a clean break from the past.
