Michel Platini’s lawyer, Thibaut d’Ales, has stunningly claimed that the FIFA Ethics Committee is seeking to ban the UEFA President for life. There is no word on whether or not this ban would extend to FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Formal corruption proceedings have been opened against Platini and Blatter by Hans-Joachim Eckert and the FIFA Ethics Committee after the final report of an investigation on the duo. The investigation in question was into an alleged breach of ethical code in regards to a £1.3m payment made to Platini from Blatter in 2011.
D’Ales reported to the Associated Press that the maximum sanction was the recommended punishment for the former French player.
D’Ales reportedly told L’Equipe that the ban was “clearly a disproportionate punishment.” He went on to add, “In releasing this, there is clearly a desire to harm. The masks are slipping one by one in FIFA, the electoral calendar is being manupulated and there is a strategy to eliminate Platini as a candidate.”
Any form of ban would rule out Platini’s hope of replacing Blatter as FIFA President in February, but a lifetime ban would ensure a tragic, if not ultimately deserving end (should he be found guilty), of a legacy to one of the larger figures in the governing world of soccer. A decision on the two is expected to be made before Christmas this year.
