Platini and Blatter: battered by FIFA panel

Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini have lost their appeals against provisional 90-day bans by the global soccer body’s ethics committee, FIFA said on Wednesday.

Blatter and Platini, who was favourite to replace the Swiss in the Feb. 26 presidential election, were suspended in October, engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as the sport faces criminal investigations in Switzerland and the United States.

The decision is a further blow to Frenchman Platini’s hopes of standing because FIFA’s electoral committee has said his registration will not be processed while he is suspended.

He is not allowed to campaign or engage in any football-related activities until his 90-day suspension is lifted.

The only hope for Platini, who was banned with Blatter on Oct. 8 pending a full ethics committee investigation into their conduct, is to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

If he won that appeal, the electoral committee has said it would review his case but, even then, there is still no guarantee that he would be able to stand in the election.

Buffeted by a series of scandals over the last few years, FIFA was thrown into turmoil in May by the U.S. indictments of 14 football officials, including two FIFA vice-presidents, and sports marketing executives for alleged corruption.

Blatter also faces criminal investigation in Switzerland over a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.1 million) payment from FIFA to Platini. Both men have denied wrongdoing.