ZURICH: FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s lawyers confirmed on Friday reports he is appealing against the 90-day ban that forced him out of office, as world football’s sleaze-tainted governing body headed into months of turmoil over how to find a new leader.

Earlier reports on Friday claimed 79-year-old Blatter would appeal, after which his lawyers Lorenz Erni and Erni Brun Forrer from Zurich and US-based Richard Cullen, confirmed the news. “In response to requests from the media, we can confirm that we have requested additional proceedings before the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee and filed an appeal with the Appeal Committee,” said the lawyers in a statement.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) became the latest regional body to demand an emergency meeting of the FIFA executive after the suspension of Blatter, UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

Ethics committee rejects veteran’s claim on rights

The row over Blatter’s suspension took a fresh twist on Friday as FIFA’s ethics watchdog rejected the 79-year-old’s claims he was not allowed to give evidence before he was banned, saying he was given “all his rights”.

The New York Times reported that Blatter had complained that he only found out about his suspension after it was made public.

Blatter’s lawyers demanded a full hearing to argue his case and also asked to see the case file used by the FIFA ethics committee in deciding the suspension, the Times said.

But ethics committee spokesman Andreas Bantel said Blatter had been given the chance to put his case on Oct 1.

UEFA chief Michel Platini, hit with the same suspension on Thursday, also “had the very same rights” at an interview on the same day, Bantel said.

Platini also plans to appeal against his 90 day suspension. Platini is a leading candidate in FIFA’s presidential election in February, alongside South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-Joon who was banned from football activities for six years in the ethics committee purge.

Asia’s powerful football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa wrote to acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou calling for an emergency meeting of the body’s executive committee.

“These are exceptional circumstances and that is why we need the meeting. Only together will we overcome these difficult times,” Khalifa said, according to a statement from the AFC.

The German and English federations have made similar calls. A FIFA spokeswoman told AFP the matter would be discussed by Hayatou and other senior committee members next week.

But the decision rests with the acting president, who is currently in Cameroon, the spokeswoman said.

Blatter, a 40-year veteran of FIFA, is still in Zurich, home of the organisation’s headquarters, a source close to him told AFP.

Meanwhile, a close associate of Blatter claimed that the veteran is still hoping to return to power as FIFA president within the next 10 days.

Klaus Stoehlker, a close associate of Blatter, told The Associated Press on Friday that the Swiss official is aiming to be back at work very soon.

“He has made an appeal and everybody hopes there will be a decision in the next 10 days,” Stoehlker said. “He is very, very tough ... he is sure he will have the right to be back. He doesn’t feel he is out of the job. That’s a huge misunderstanding.”

A cloud now hangs over Platini, the former French captain and one of the greatest players of all time, who had presented himself as the man to clean up FIFA after years of scandal and graft allegations.

The 60-year-old has been named in the investigation into Blatter because of a $2 million payment he received in 2011.

He insists the payment was legitimate and slammed the FIFA ban as “farcical”, pledging to carry on with his bid to lead the world body.

“I reject all the allegations that have been made against me,” he said, indicating he too intended to appeal against the ban.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2015

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