Paris, Nov 19 (IANS) Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Michel Plantini has said he will move the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his provisional suspension issued by FIFA, and accused the world football governing body of deliberately delaying his candidature for its presidency.
Platini’s lawyers on Wednesday said in a statement that the decision of FIFA’s appeal committee to reject his appeal against the 90-day provisional ban by the ethics committee will force him to resort to CAS, as it is an “independent court that is free of the electoral context and pressures present at FIFA”, reports Efe.
His attorneys maintain that Platini has complete confidence in the CAS and it will restore all of his rights.
Until CAS issues its decision, the Frenchman’s legal representatives said that he will retain his presidential bid.
Platini said that FIFA, through its domestic bodies, is conducting unfair and biased investigations, which represents a constant violation to the rights of the defense.
FIFA appeals committee rejected on Wednesday the appeals lodged by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Platini against the decision issued by FIFA’s ethics committee early in October to provisionally suspend the top football officials for 90 days.
The appeals committee, chaired by Larry Mussenden, confirmed in its entirety the respective decisions amid investigations by FIFA into corruption, with Platini’s candidacy in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections, rejected.
The ethics committee decided on October 8 to provisionally suspend both Blatter and Platini for 90 days according to Article 84, paragraph 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
The bans might be extended for an additional 45 days by the ethics committee, which rejected an appeal submitted last month by Platini against the decision of banning him from practicing any soccer-related activity.
FIFA has stated that the process by which the ethics committee issued the provisional suspensions of Blatter and Platini “is still ongoing”, which means that this body “may still confirm, revoke or amend the provisional decision as stated in article 84 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics”.
The ethics committee opened investigations against Blatter, FIFA president since 1998, and Platini, president of UEFA since 2007, after the Swiss prosecutor brought charges of disloyal management and breach of trust against the Swiss.
The prosecution also questioned the “unfair payment” of two million Swiss francs ($2.24 million) by Blatter to Platini “to the detriment of FIFA”.
The FIFA election committee approved on November 12 five presidential bids: Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Frenchman Jerome Champagne, Swiss Gianni Infantino, Bahraini Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale.
