ZURICH: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter will learn on Monday whether his appeal against a six-year ban from football has been successful, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday.

Once the most powerful man in football, Blatter is serving a ban over ethics violations relating to a suspect $2 million payment he authorised in 2011 to former UEFA boss Michel Platini.

The 80-year-old Swiss served as FIFA chief from 1998 to 2015.

Both Blatter and Platini were originally banned for eight years by the sport’s world governing body, but that was reduced to six years by a FIFA appeals panel in February. Platini had his ban cut by a further two years by CAS in May.

The result of Blatter’s appeal will be made public at 1400 GMT (1500 local time) on Monday.

Whatever the verdict on Monday, Blatter faces another FIFA ethics investigation over alleged bribery and self-dealing in his contract, plus the employment deals of his former secretary general Jerome Valcke and finance director Markus Kattner. FIFA has fired both officials.

FIFA ethics investigators said in September the latest case involved an alleged “coordinated effort by three former top officials of FIFA to enrich themselves”.

Blatter received a 12 million Swiss franc ($12 million) bonus after the successful 2014 World Cup in Brazil and would have been due another 12 million Swiss francs for completing his 2015-19 presidential term, the contracts revealed.

Blatter announced his intention in June 2015 to leave FIFA, days after American and Swiss federal investigations of alleged corruption were revealed.

He was suspended from duty in October 2015, and his 40-year employment by FIFA formally ended in February when Platini’s former right-hand man at UEFA, Gianni Infantino, was elected president.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2016