Michel Platini Loses Appeal to CAS to Overturn 90-Day Suspension

UEFA president Michel Platini has lost his appeal to overturn his 90-day suspension from FIFA after it was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday. 

It means the Frenchman will not be present for the Euro 2016 draw which is to be held in Paris on Saturday. 

Platini was handed a 90-day suspension by the FIFA Ethics Committee, along with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, after he received a ‘disloyal payment’ of £1.35 million from the Swiss for work he carried out for FIFA nine years prior.

After having an initial appeal rejected by the FIFA Appeal Committee, Platini took his appeal to the CAS, who have decided that the provisional ban should remain in place ahead of a final ruling next week. 

However the CAS has instructed FIFA not to extend the ban beyond the 90 days. The Ethics Committee could have extended the ban for a further 45 days under the rules, but the CAS believe this would have been unfair on Platini. 

A statement released by the CAS panel said: “The CAS Panel considered that the situation would change if Fifa were to extend the provisional suspension for any period up to 45 days, on the basis of ‘exceptional circumstances’ as permitted by Art. 85 of the Fifa Code of Ethics.

“The Panel found that such an extension would constitute an undue and unjustified restriction of Michel Platini’s right of access to justice, cause irreparable harm to him and also tip the balance of interest test in his favour. As a consequence, the CAS Panel ordered Fifa not to extend the current provisional suspension imposed on Michel Platini.”

This latest outcome once again puts Michel Platini’s hopes of standing for the FIFA presidential election in February into more doubt. 

The Ethics Committee will meet in Zurich next week, with a final verdict on the case expected to be announced from 19 December onwards. 

{jcomments on}