Michel Platini complaints 'not valid' says FIFA's ethics committee

FIFA's ethics committee has rejected criticism from UEFA president Michel Platini over the manner of his suspension, saying the argument that he was not allowed to defend himself is "not valid".

Platini, the head of European football's governing body, was suspended for 90 days last Thursday along with FIFA president Sepp Blatter pending a full investigation against them.

Blatter and Platini were handed the bans after the Swiss Attorney General opened criminal proceedings against Blatter over a £1.35m payment to Platini.

The payment was made in February 2011 for work the Frenchman carried out as Blatter's technical advisor more than nine years previously, between 1999 and 2002.

Platini is regarded as "somewhere between a witness and an accused person", the Attorney General has said, while Blatter has denied any wrongdoing.

Platini, a candidate for the FIFA presidential election due to be held in February, described the allegations against him as "based on mere semblances" and "astonishingly vague" and his lawyer claimed that his client had not had a chance to defend himself before being suspended.

However, a spokesperson for FIFA's ethics committee chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert rejected suggestions that Platini had not been fairly treated and revealed that he had been interviewed for five hours by the Investigatory Chamber earlier this month.

The spokesperson said: "The argument put forward by Michel Platini's lawyers that their client had not had the possibility to defend himself before the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee before his suspension is not valid.

"After the Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee had heard him for more than five hours on October 1, 2015 (with the hearing documented on more than 50 pages), the chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber, Hans-Joachim Eckert, did not see a need for a second hearing with Mr Platini. This proceeding is fully in line with article 84.2. of the FIFA Code of Ethics."

Meanwhile, former FIFA secretary-general Michel Zen Ruffinen says has been asked to stand for the presidency and is studying the situation.

"I am simply studying the situation following some requests that I have received to be a candidate for the position," said the Swiss. "I will monitor the situation, see how it develops in the next days and check the feasibility to see if it makes sense."

Zen Ruffinen, a former referee, did not say who had suggested he stand. He served as FIFA's secretary general from 1998 to 2002 and left after falling out with Blatter.