FIFA’s Ethics Committee dropped a hammer on President Sepp Blatter, along with other executives, the will prevent them from representing the organization “in any capacity, act on the organization’s behalf, or communicate to media or other stakeholders as a FIFA representative” for at least 90 days. Issa Hayatou, as the longest-serving vice-president on FIFA’s Executive Committee, will now serve as Acting President of FIFA. The committee also punished FIFA’s Secretary General, Jerome Valcke while Michel Platini, who serves as a FIFA VP and is the head of UEFA, with “provisional” bans from the sport. Meanwhile, former FIFA VP Chung Mong-joon was exiled from the sport for six years and fined.
Although the suspensions took effect immediately, UEFA announced that it would not enforce the ruling. The NY Times reports that Platini released a statement through UEFA dismissing the allegations against him, noting “I am more determined than ever to defend myself before the relevant judicial bodies.”
