FIFA's Ethics Committee has this morning confirmed that Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have been banned from all football related activity for eight years. The FIFA President and the apparent heir to the thrown have been handed down the bans following a 'disloyal payment' of $2m made to Platini in 2011.
Blatter and Platini have also been fined £33,700 ($40,000) and £54,000 ($80,000) respectively.
You can read FIFA's full statement on the bans here.
Blatter arrived at a press conference in Zurich this morning and immediately confirmed that he would appeal the ban to the Court of Arbitration for sport. Platini is expected to do likewise.
Blatter arrives for his press conference in Zurich (with plaster on face) pic.twitter.com/95UjwBPplr
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) December 21, 2015
While the appeals are pending, it would seem that this is the end of Blatter's involvement in football entirely and as for Platini, his image has surely been damaged beyond repair at this stage. His bid for the FIFA presidency this time around is over and a return when his ban is over would seem extremely unlikely.
