FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2008 file photo UEFA president Michel Platini, left, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter stand back to back as they attend a meeting of European sports ministers in Biarritz, southwestern France. On Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against FIFA President Sepp Blatter. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
The investigatory arm of FIFA’s ethics committee has recommended that the soccer governing body’s president, Sepp Blatter, be suspended for 90 days, Sky News and the Guardian are reporting.
The ethics committee met this week in response to Swiss attorney general’s office opening a criminal investigation of Blatter over a $2 million payment to UEFA President, Michel Platini.
According to the Guardian, the decision has yet to be approved by the adjudicatory chamber of the committee, which is led by the German judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert.
Klaus Stöhlker, a personal consultant to Blatter, told the paper, “What we know is that President Blatter was told he could be suspended for 90 days. The ethics committee has not taken any key decisions, they are waiting for further investigations. There is no guilt impugned.”
Eckert is best known for having edited and deciding not to release the full text of former New York prosecutor Michael Garcia’s investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
FIFA has been in turmoil since American and Swiss investigators began indicting executives of the organization in May.
In early June, Blatter announced that he would resign his post pending an election to select his replacement, now scheduled for February 2016.
If Blatter is suspended for 90 days, it would put him out of office until January. Platini is considered one of the leading candidates to replace him.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.