Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini banned for eight years by FIFA ethics court

A FIFA ethics committee has banned outgoing president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini from football for eight years. World football’s governing body has also fined Blatter 50,000 Swiss Franc (Dh184,634), while Platini has been fined 80,000 Franc (295,250). It follows a hearing into a 2 million Swiss Franc (Dh 7.38 million) payment approved by Blatter to the Frenchman in 2011. They insist it was for work done in 2002, but the FIFA committee decided there was no legal basis for the cash transfer. The pair had been suspended for 90 days in October while an investigation was carried out. Both men have denied any wrongdoing, and are likely to challenge the latest verdict at the FIFA appeals committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.