Blatter gets second FIFA ban

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP):

Sepp Blatter was banned for a second time by FIFA yesterday for financial wrongdoing, seven months before the 85-year-old former president's first ban expires.

Blatter has recently been in poor health and was put in an induced coma for one week after undergoing heart surgery in December, at the time when FIFA was deciding his case.

FIFA said its ethics committee banned both Blatter and former secretary general Jerome Valcke for six years and eight months for self-dealing in awarding themselves contractual bonuses worth millions of dollars, mostly linked to staging World Cups.

The charges against both men under the FIFA code of ethics included conflicts of interest, receiving gifts and breach of their duty of loyalty. Valcke was also charged with abuse of office.

Ongoing legal activity

The verdict yesterday added to a slew of ongoing legal activity connecting the past and present leaderships of football's governing body.

Both Blatter and Valcke, who also face criminal proceedings in Switzerland and deny wrongdoing, will start serving the new bans when their current ones expire.

Blatter and Valcke were previously banned for six years and 10 years, respectively, in separate cases. Blatter's first ban expires in October and Valcke's initial ban will be served in October 2025.

Both appealed against their first bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and can also go to the Lausanne court to challenge the latest sanctions.

In the new case, both men were each fined US$1.07 million (J$156 million) and ordered to pay within 30 days. It is unclear what power FIFA has to enforce payment.