01:03Switzerland: 'Platini is an honest man,' says Blatter after pair get 8-year bans
Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter stated that "Platini is an honest man" during a press briefing at FIFA's old Sonnenberg headquarters in Zurich, Monday. This follows after FIFA's ethics committee decided to ban him from all football-related activities for a period of eight years.
"I said he is an honest man, and I believe that he is an honest man. We have not always the same ideas and he had another approach to the FIFA presidency than I have had", Blatter said. He went on saying that he never had the idea to make something against him, adding that he "would be a fool" to do so, because of his involvement in the case.
Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini both received eight-year bans, according to an announcement by FIFA's ethics committee on Monday. The 79-year-old Blatter is under criminal investigation in Switzerland over a €1.8 million ($2 million) payment that FIFA made to UEFA chief Michel Platini in 2011 for advisory work done from 1998-2002.
Blatter was suspended from FIFA for 90 days, following the start of the investigation, alongside Platini and Secretary General Jerome Valcke. The president has refuted all allegations of wrongdoing, recently likening the committee to "the Inquisition."
01:03Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter stated that "Platini is an honest man" during a press briefing at FIFA's old Sonnenberg headquarters in Zurich, Monday. This follows after FIFA's ethics committee decided to ban him from all football-related activities for a period of eight years.
"I said he is an honest man, and I believe that he is an honest man. We have not always the same ideas and he had another approach to the FIFA presidency than I have had", Blatter said. He went on saying that he never had the idea to make something against him, adding that he "would be a fool" to do so, because of his involvement in the case.
Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini both received eight-year bans, according to an announcement by FIFA's ethics committee on Monday. The 79-year-old Blatter is under criminal investigation in Switzerland over a €1.8 million ($2 million) payment that FIFA made to UEFA chief Michel Platini in 2011 for advisory work done from 1998-2002.
Blatter was suspended from FIFA for 90 days, following the start of the investigation, alongside Platini and Secretary General Jerome Valcke. The president has refuted all allegations of wrongdoing, recently likening the committee to "the Inquisition."