Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been given a new ban of six years and eight months from football, the world governing body has announced.
The ban has been imposed for multiple breaches of FIFA’s ethics code and comes into force when a current suspension ends in October, FIFA said.
The same length of the suspension has also been imposed on the organization’s former secretary general Jerome Valcke.
A statement from FIFA read: “The investigations into Messrs Blatter and Valcke covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to FIFA competitions that were paid to top FIFA management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts, as well as reimbursement by FIFA of private legal costs in the case of Mr Valcke.”
The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee found Blatter, 85, in breach of rules concerning duty of loyalty, conflicts of interest and offering or accepting gifts or other benefits.
Valcke was found to have breached those same ethics code articles, plus abuse of position.
In December, FIFA filed a criminal complaint against Blatter over the finances of its loss-making football museum in Zurich.
World football’s governing body said it suspected criminal mismanagement by FIFA’s former bosses and companies appointed by them to work on the museum – long seen as a pet project of Blatter’s – in a renovated and rented city centre building.
The FIFA World Football Museum opened in 2016 after $140m (£104.2m) of football money was spent refurbishing the 1970s office building to also include 34 rental apartments.
Source: Skysports
