MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The FIFA Ethics Committee has temporarily suspended FIFA President Joseph Blatter and UEFA President and FIFA Vice-President Michel Platini, and FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke for a period of 90 days during investigations, FIFA’s Adjudicatory Chamber said in a press release published on Thursday.
“The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee chaired by Hans–Joachim Eckert has provisionally banned FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, UEFA President and FIFA Vice-President Michel Platini, and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke (who has already been put on leave by his employer FIFA) for a duration of 90 days,” the press release reads.
According to the press statement, the ban duration may be extended for an additional period not longer than 45 days.
In May, several high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested on a US federal corruption warrant. Although Blatter was not charged alongside other executives of the organization, the scandal led to his resignation on June 2, four days after he was re-elected for a fifth term.
Blatter agreed to continue to carry out the functions of the office until a new president is elected February 26, 2016.
In late September, the FIFA ethics committee launched a probe into corruption claims against Blatter over alleged signing of an "unfavorable" contract and making a "disloyal payment" of $2.05 million to Platini in 2011 at the expense of FIFA, for work allegedly performed in 1999-2002.
