FIFA announces reduction of sanctions against Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini

(Baonghean.vn) - FIFA has rejected the appeals of former President Sepp Blatter and former UEFA President Michel Platini, and reduced their bans from all football-related activities from eight years to six years after the FIFA Ethics Committee investigated that Mr. Platini received a bribe worth two million Swiss francs (equivalent to 2.02 million US dollars) from Mr. Blatter.

The committee found them guilty of breaching FIFA's ethics rules regarding conflicts of interest and rules on integrity and gifts, and cleared Blatter and Platini of bribery and corruption charges.

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two former senior FIFA officials, were accused of corruption.

A recent FIFA statement said that "some mitigating circumstances for Mr Platini and Mr Blatter were not included in the previous indictment. The activities and benefits they brought to FIFA, UEFA and world football in general over the years deserve to be a mitigating factor".

The two former officials were also ordered to pay fines to FIFA, with Platini being fined 80,000 Swiss francs ($80,873) and Blatter being fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($50,541).

Platini, the legendary former captain of Juventus and the French national team, said FIFA's ruling was "a shameful insult" and would continue to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, after being forced to resign after 17 years in charge in October 2015, said he was "deeply disappointed" with the verdict as he was unable to preside over the vote to elect a new FIFA president on February 26.

The vote to elect a new FIFA president on February 26 is seen as a move to rebuild the organisation's reputation and maintain its position as the guardians of the world's most popular sport, following a corruption scandal involving top members of the organisation in 2015.

According to a poll by Forza Football magazine, the election of a new FIFA president has yet to regain the trust of football fans around the world, when 7 out of 10 fans interviewed shared "no trust in FIFA".

The candidates for the presidency are Jerome Champagne, a former FIFA Deputy Secretary General, Gianni Infantino, Permanent Vice President at UEFA, Tokyo Sexwale, a member of the 2010 World Cup organizing committee, and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, a close friend of Sepp Blatter who has been accused of human rights violations.

Thanh Hien

(According to CNN)