Blatter and Platini suspended by Fifa over £1.35m payment with only verbal contract

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have both been suspended for 90 days from their duties

THE fact that only a verbal contract existed between Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for the £1.35million "disloyal" payment paid for the latter is understood to be behind the 90-day suspension of the pair.

 

Both men admit the payment, made in February 2011 for work between 1998 and 2002 was the result of a vocal agreement when Platini worked as Blatter's adviser around the turn of the century.

The reason for delay in payment was put down to a lack of FIFA funds at the time, but Swiss law dictates that any rights an employee has to payment expires after five years.

 

In fact, the payment was finally made just three months before Platini decided not to run against Blatter as FIFA president.

The FIFA code of ethics makes provision for "provisional measures" in the event of a drawn-out investigation "if a breach of the Code of Ethics appears to have been committed and a decision on the main issue may not be taken early enough".

 

In light of so many extraordinary factors to this payment, this threshold was considered to have been crossed - hence the 90-day suspension for the pair.

Both protest their innocence vehemently of any wrongdoing and Platini has so far been backed by UEFA at least who are refusing to appoint an interim replacement.

The matter will be discussed further in a meeting of their executive committee on Thursday.

Issa Hayatou, as senior vice-president under Blatter at FIFA, has already been confirmed as his temporary stand-in and was expected to arrive from his native Cameroon today. However, a FIFA spokesperson confirmed his arrival had been delayed by 24 hours.

 

Meanwhile the ongoing two-fronted investigations into FIFA's affairs claimed another victim yesterday with FIFA's ethics committee suspending Thai football chief Worawi Makudi for 90 days.

The same clause of the code of ethics as applied to Blatter and Platini was invoked.

Worawi resigned as a member of the FIFA executive committee in May after nearly 20 years' service - a period that was littered with allegations of wrongdoing.

More recently, he was found guilty of forgery by a Thai court in July in association with his re-election as head of the Football Association of Thailand.

He is the ninth of the 24-man executive committee who chose the venues of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to be punished as part of the ongoing investigations. Two others had already resigned before the latest scandal broke.