Sepp Blatter questions committee's powers to remove him
Wednesday 25 November 2015 08:27, UK
Sepp Blatter's advisor claims the suspended FIFA president is questioning the organisation's ethics committee's powers to remove him from his position.
The Swiss and UEFA president Michel Platini could receive lifetime bans on corruption charges. Investigators have recommended that punishment be handed out if they are found guilty.
Blatter, however, is considering an attempt to go over the head of the ethics committee in an effort to clear his name.
His advisor Klaus Stoehlker said: "Mr Blatter was elected by the FIFA congress and only the congress can remove his power."
The recommended sanctions relate to corruption charges brought over a £1.3m payment made to Platini from FIFA in 2011 which Blatter signed off.
The pair also face charges of mismanagement, conflict of interest, false accounting and non co-operation with or criticising the ethics committee. Formal hearings will take place in December.
French paper L'Equipe reported Platini's lawyer Thibaut D'Ales as saying the recommended lifetime ban was a "pure scandal" and "disproportionate".
He also claimed it had been deliberately leaked to further damage Platini's hopes of running for the FIFA presidency. He will only be able to stand if he clears his name in time.
D'Ales said: "This ban is subject to corruption being proved but it is clearly a disproportionate punishment.
"In releasing this, there is clearly a desire to harm. The masks are slipping one by one in FIFA, the electoral calendar is being manipulated and there is a strategy to eliminate Platini as a candidate."
Hans-Joachim Eckert, the judge heading the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee, opened proceedings against the pair on Monday after studying investigators' reports.
A decision is expected before Christmas. Senior FIFA figures given lifetime bans include Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), Chuck Blazer (USA) and Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar).
