Michel Platini has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision issued by the FIFA Appeal Committee on 24 February 2016.
In appealing to the CAS, Michel Platini seeks to annul the decisions taken by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee and by the FIFA Appeal Committee which lead to him being declared ineligible to take part in football-related activity at national and international level for six years.
A CAS arbitration procedure is in progress. First, the parties will exchange written submissions and a panel of three arbitrators will be constituted. The Panel will then issue directions with respect to the holding of a hearing. Following the hearing, the Panel will deliberate and on a later date, it will issue a decision in the form of an Arbitral Award.
Michel Platini has announced he is withdrawing from the race for FIFA Presidency.
“I’m withdrawing from the race for FIFA presidency,” Platini told the Associated Press.
“The timing is not good for me. I don’t have the means to fight on equal terms with the other candidates. I have not been given the chance to play the game. Bye bye FIFA, bye bye FIFA presidency.”
The election which is slated for February 26 is to succeed Sepp Blatter, who has also been banned for eight years and stepped down following an American investigation into criminal activity.
Platini was banned for eight years as well for receiving a £1.35m payment, which is also the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland.
“I’m taking this philosophically, let’s wait and see what happens. But injustice is revolting me and I’m trying to fight it. I can’t have any regret in that story because things fell upon my head while I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m struggling to understand what happened, unless there was a will somewhere to prevent me from bidding.”
“Many national federations wanted me as President. I had 150 associations thinking that I’m the right person to solve FIFA’s problems. It won’t happen. But there is no age limitation, so maybe I’ll come back in 20 years. Who knows?” He said
It was an interesting 2015 in the world of football and for us at the Newfanzone we’ve come up with a review of some of the events that shaped our year, You can also send in your reviews, comments and sports stories to fanzone.fans@gmail.com or tweet at us @newfanzone or @El_pauleta on twitter.
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Nigeria:
The year 2015 was bitter sweet for Nigerian football. Here are the major high and low points in the Nigerian football scene in 2015;
* In January 2015, Super Falcons and Liverpool striker Asisat Oshoala won the Women’s player of the year and Youth player of the year award at the GLO CAF Awards hosted in Lagos. The Super Falcons of Nigeria were named the Women’s National team of the year at the award.
* In May 2015, Super Falcons of Nigeria striker Asisat Oshoala won the inaugural BBC Women’s footballer of the year award.
* In June 2015, The Flying Eagles of Nigeria where knocked out of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand losing 1-0 to Germany in the round of 16. While the Super Falcons crashed out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in the group stage.
STEPHEN KESHI
* In July 2015, Stephen Keshi was sacked, spending less than 3 months in his return as the head coach of the Super Eagles.
* The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) unveiled Sunday Oliseh as the new coach of the Super Eagles in Abuja.
*In August 2015, The Super Falcons of Nigeria crashed out of the Rio 2016 Olympics qualifiers after suffering a 3-2 aggregate loss against Equatorial Guinea
* Kano Pillars suffered their first home defeat in 12 years when they lost 2-1 to Nasarawa United at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano.
* In September 2015, The Nigerian U-23 team won bronze at the football event of the All African Games while the Super Falcons lost to Cote d’Ivoire in the bronze medal match.
Golden Eaglets
* In November 2015, The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile for a record fifth time. They join Brazil as the second team to win the competition back to back.
* Enyimba of Aba made history winning the GLO Premier League a record seventh time.
2015 Federation Cup Winners Akwa United FC, football, Nigeria. photo credit Alonge Akinlolu
* Akwa United defeated Lobi Stars 2-1 to win this year’s Federation Cup at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
*In December 2015, The Nigeria U-23 team defeated Algeria 2-1 to win the CAF U-23 Championship in Senegal. The Samson Siasia lead side qualified for the football event of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
* In what summarizes the Super Eagles performance in the FIFA Ranking, Sunday Oliseh’s team ends 2015 as 66th in the world and 12th in Africa.
World Football Scene:
Cristiano Ronaldo, credit-Ronaldo7.net FIFA Ballon d’Or
* In January 2015, Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the third time.
*In February 2015, The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire were crowned 2015 Africa Cup of Nations champions after defeating Ghana 9-8 0n penalties in Equatorial Guinea.
* In May 2015, Jose Mourinho led Chelsea to their fifth English League title.
Fc Barcelona are League Champions! 2014-2015! photo credit fcbarcelona.com
* Barcelona won the Spanish La Liga title for the 23rd time.
* Sevilla made European football history by becoming the first club to win the UEFA Europa League four times.
*Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 12th time after defeating Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley.
* Carlo Ancelotti was sacked as Real Madrid manager.
*In June 2015, Barcelona completes a historic second treble by winning the UEFA Champions League against Juventus in Berlin. It was Barcelona fourth Champions League title in the last ten years and their fifth in team history.
* Real Madrid appointed former Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez as manager on a three-year contract.
* Serbia was crowned FIFA U-20 World Cup champions after beating Brazil in final.
Petr Cech. photo credit chelseafc.com
* Arsenal announced the signing of Petr Cech from Chelsea on a long-term contract.
* In July 2015, The United States won their third FIFA Women’s World Cup defeating Japan 5-2 in Canada.
* Chile won the Copa America for the first time in its history after a dramatic penalty shootout against Argentina in the final in Santiago.
* Fiji broke the record for the biggest win in international football with a 38-0 victory over the Federated States of Micronesia.
* Bayern Munich completed the signing of Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk on a five-year contract for €30 million.
* Chelsea announced the signing of Radamel Falcao from Monaco on a season-long loan deal.
* Manchester United completed the signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich.
* Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup for a record seventh time after defeating Jamaica 3-1 in Philadelphia.
* In August 2015, after a season at Manchester United, Angel Di Maria completed his move to Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year contract.
* Arsenal defeated Chelsea 1-0 to lift the Community Shield at Wembley.
* Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup by defeating Europa League Champions Sevilla 5-4 in extra time in Tbilisi,Georgia.
* In September 2015, Manchester United completed the signing of French forward Anthony Martial from AS Monaco on a four-year contract with the option of another year.
* Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney became England’s all-time goal scorer.
* In October 2015, Wales qualified for their first major tournament since 1958.
* FIFA ethics committee bans Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for 8 years.
* Barcelona won their fifth trophy of 2015 by winning the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time with a victory over South American champions River Plate in Japan.
Embattled UEFA President and Banned FIFA executive Michel Platini seems not to be taking his 8 year ban by the FIFA Ethics Committee serious.
Barely a week after he was handed an 8 year ban by FIFA’s Ethics Committee Michel Platini was pictured attending the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, Platini also allegedly spoke to the media during the event and all of this definitely contravenes the terms of the FIFA Ban.
The Frenchman has stated that he would be appealing the Ban but it seems like he doesn’t reckon with the ban as he his supposed to stay away from all “football events” both locally and international.
FIFA’s ethics committee has banned Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for eight years from all football-related activities.
Ethics judges ruled that Blatter broke FIFA Code of Ethics rules on conflicts of interest, breach of loyalty and offering gifts.
Platini broke rules on conflict of interest and loyalty.
A FIFA statement read: “The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee chaired by Mr Hans Joachim Eckert has banned Mr Joseph S. Blatter, president of FIFA, for eight years and Mr Michel Platini, vice-president and member of the Executive Committee of FIFA and president of UEFA, for eight years from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) on a national and international level. The bans come into force immediately.”
“The proceedings against Mr Blatter primarily related to a payment of CHF 2,000,000 transferred in February 2011 from FIFA to Mr Platini. Mr Blatter, in his position as president of FIFA, authorised the payment to Mr Platini which had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on Aug. 25 1999. Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment. His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.”
“The evidence available to the adjudicatory chamber in the present case was not sufficient to establish, to the extent required, that Mr Blatter sought the execution or omission of an official act from Mr Platini within the meaning of article 21 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) (Bribery and corruption). However, the conduct of Mr Blatter towards Mr Platini without a legal basis constituted a breach of article 20 paragraph 1 of the FCE (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits).
“Furthermore, Mr Blatter found himself in a situation of conflict of interest, despite which he continued to perform his related duties, failing to disclose said situation and the existence of personal interests linked to his prospective activities, thus violating article 19 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the FCE (Conflicts of interest).”
“By failing to place FIFA’s interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA’s interests, Mr Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA and breached article 15 of the FCE (Loyalty). Mr Blatter’s actions did not show commitment to an ethical attitude, failing to respect all applicable laws and regulations as well as FIFA’s regulatory framework to the extent applicable to him and demonstrating an abusive execution of his position as President of FIFA, hence violating article 13 of the FCE (General rules of conduct).”
“In consequence, Mr Blatter has been banned for eight years from all football related activities and fined CHF 50,000.”
“The investigation into the case of Mr Blatter was conducted by Mr Robert Torres, member of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee. The investigation resulted in a final report which was submitted to the adjudicatory chamber on Nov. 20 2015. The adjudicatory chamber opened formal proceedings on Nov. 23 2015, and the hearing of Mr Blatter took place in Zurich on Dec. 17 2015.”
“The proceedings against Mr Platini primarily related to a payment of CHF 2,000,000 that he received in February 2011 from FIFA. The payment to Mr Platini had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on Aug. 25 1999. Mr Platini’s assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber.”
“The evidence available to the adjudicatory chamber in the present case was not sufficient to establish, to the extent required, that Mr Platini obtained the payment for the execution or omission of an official act within the meaning of article 21 paragraph 1 of the FCE (Bribery and corruption). Nevertheless, the conduct of Mr Platini without a legal basis constituted a breach of article 20 paragraph 1 of the FCE (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits).”
“Furthermore, Mr Platini found himself in a situation of conflict of interest, despite which he continued to perform his related duties, failing to disclose said situation and the existence of personal interests linked to his prospective activities in violation of article 19 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the FCE (Conflicts of interest).”
“By failing to place FIFA’s interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA’s interests, Mr Platini also violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA and breached article 15 of the FCE (Loyalty). In addition, Mr Platini failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities.”
“His actions did not show commitment to an ethical attitude, failing to respect all applicable laws and regulations as well as FIFA’s regulatory framework to the extent applicable to him and demonstrating an abusive execution of his position as Vice-President of FIFA and member of the FIFA Executive Committee, hence violating article 13 of the FCE (General rules of conduct).”
“In consequence, Mr Platini has been banned for eight years from all football related activities and fined CHF 80,000.”
“The investigation into the case of Mr Platini was conducted by Ms Vanessa Allard, member of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee. The investigation resulted in a final report which was submitted to the adjudicatory chamber on Nov. 20 2015. The adjudicatory chamber opened formal proceedings on Nov. 23 2015, and the hearing took place in Zurich on Dec. 18 2015 in the presence of Mr Platini’s lawyers.”
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have previously said they would appeal
Michel Platini will not attend Friday’s FIFA ethics committee hearing, the suspended UEFA president’s lawyers have said.
Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter were expected to face hearings before the FIFA ethics judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, in Zurich on friday, over a £1.3m payment made to Platini by FIFA in 2011 and signed off by Blatter.
Platini’s lawyers said in a statement: “Michel Platini … has decided not to attend his hearing at the FIFA ethics committee on 18 December 2015 as the verdict of this ethics committee has been announced in the press last weekend by one of its spokespersons, Mr Andreas Bantel, in disregard of all fundamental rights, starting with the presumption of
innocence. By this decision Michel Platini means to express his deepest indignation with a process he regards as solely
political and intended to prevent him from standing for the FIFA presidency.”
The FIFA ethics committee had earlier released a statement promising Platini a fair trial: “We would like to clearly stress that the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee will deal with the present case in the same way as with any other procedure independently and in an unbiased manner.”
THE 90-DAY PROVISIONAL SUSPENSION IMPOSED ON MICHEL PLATINI REMAINS IN FORCE, BUT FIFA IS ORDERED NOT TO EXTEND IT
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially upheld the request for provisional measures filed by Michel Platini requesting that his 90-day provisional suspension from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international levels be lifted until a final decision on the merits of the dispute is taken by the FIFA Ethics Committee.
On 20 November 2015, Michel Platini filed an appeal against the FIFA Appeal Committee decision, notified on 18 November 2015, confirming the decision rendered on 7 October 2015 by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee to impose a provisional ban of 90 days on him. The 90-day period expires on 5 January 2016.
The CAS Panel, composed of Mr Clifford Hendel (France/USA), President, Mr Rui Botica Santos (Portugal) and Prof. Ulrich Haas (Germany), determined that maintaining the provisional suspension for the remainder of the 90 days does not cause irreparable harm to Michel Platini at this point in time. Indeed, the CAS Panel has noted that, at the hearing of 8 December 2015, FIFA’s representatives confirmed FIFA’s assurances expressed earlier that the FIFA Ethics Committee would render its final decision on the merits on or before 5 January 2016, i.e. before the provisional suspension comes to an end.
The CAS Panel also emphasized that, even if the ban were lifted at this time, such measure would not give any guarantee to Michel Platini that the FIFA ad hoc electoral committee would validate his candidature for the FIFA presidential election before 5 January 2016.
However, 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.
Paraguay’s Juan Angel Napout who was arrested by at an hotel in Zurich last week by Swiss Authorities is believed to have agreed to be extradited to the USA after being named in the ongoing major investigation into several corrupt deals regarding hosting and media rights for FIFA World Cups.
Napout is the president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and he has joined the growing list of FIFA executives who are alleged to have received bribes over a period of years.
American Football administrator and former CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer was one of the first FIFA executives to be arrested by the US Justice Department followed by Trinidad and Tobago’s Jack Warner who was a former FIFA Vice President and a past president of North, Central America and Caribbean Confederation (CONCACAF).
Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke, Michel Platini have all been fingered in the ongoing investigation but Platini has maintained his innocence and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is set to rule on friday on wether the frenchman who was suspended for 90 days by the FIFA independent ethics committee can stand for the forthcoming FIFA elections.
The US Justice Department as vowed to come after whoever is fingered in the ongoing investigation into the biggest sports federation in world, and who knows who might be the next high profile name to be arrested.
FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has opened formal proceedings against Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini in relation over an alleged “disloyal payment” made by suspended FIFA president to the Frenchman in 2011.
Last week, the pair had their appeals against 90-day suspensions rejected by the governing body’s appeals committee.
“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert has today opened formal adjudicatory proceedings against Joseph S. Blatter and Michel Platini based on the final reports submitted by the investigatory chamber,” a statement from FIFA announced.
“The adjudicatory chamber has studied the reports carefully and decided to institute formal proceedings against the two officials. For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish details of the sanctions requested by the investigatory chamber in its final reports.
“In the course of the proceedings, both parties will be invited to submit positions including any evidence with regard to the final reports of the investigatory
chamber (art. 70 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics) and they may request a hearing (art. 74 par. 2 of the FCE).
“The adjudicatory chamber intends to come to a decision in both cases during the month of December.”
Michel Platini is now taking an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope that he will be able to stand in FIFA’s presidential election on February 26th
Liberia’s Football Association president Musa Bility has been ruled out as a candidate for the FIFA presidency following integrity checks.
FIFA has approved the candidature of Tokyo Sexwale, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, with suspended UEFA president Michel Platini not included.
Platini could be added should his ban end before February’s election.
FIFA has said it would not comment further on the reasons for Bility’s exclusion.
Awards presented at Monaco ceremony during UEFA Champions League draw
The German international claimed a total of nine votes, with Germany midfielder Martina Müller in second place receiving the remaining three votes, leaving their VfL Wolfsburg teammate and Swedish international Nilla Fischer in third place.
The jury comprising 12 journalists, each regularly reporting on women’s football and selected by European Sports Media Group (ESM), cast their final votes via electronic system based on the shortlist of the top three players that came out from the second round of voting.
The initial shortlist of the top ten players had been provided by the coaches of the teams participating in the 2013/14 UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals.
Nadine Kessler. photo credit uefa.com
Receiving the award on stage from UEFA President Michel Platini, 26-year-old Nadine Kessler said:
Cristiano Ronaldo
“It’s an award that gives me confirmation that I have done everything right and that I worked really hard. In the end, it is only possible with good team-mates around you in order to develop in this way.
That was the case with Wolfsburg and also with the national team. It is something really special.
To be honest I didn’t even dream about it. It is a surprise for me. I had some great, competitive team-mates alongside me. But I’m simply over the moon.”
The Portuguese international claimed a total of 26 votes, with FC Bayern München teammates German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (19 votes) and Dutch forward Arjen Robben (9 votes) occupying second and third place respectively.
The jury was composed of 54 renowned sports journalists representing each of the UEFA member associations. The journalists voted live, via an electronic voting system, in order to determine the final winner amongst the last three nominees.
Presented with the award on stage from UEFA President Michel Platini, 29-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo said:
“I am really happy! I worked very hard, but I want to thank my team-mates too, because they were really essential for me to be able to win this individual trophy.
2013/14 was an extraordinary season, both on a personal and on a team level; we managed to play a great Champions League and to win the trophy, I was the top scorer in the competition, and set the new top-scorer record.
I think the trophy was well-deserved. Of course, we still have to train a lot to keep playing like this. This is the first time I’ve won this trophy, so I am really happy.”
For these awards, players were judged on their performances during the 2013/14 season in all competitions, both domestic and international, and at club and national team levels.
Full details of the voting results for both awards, together with lists of previous winners, can be found on http://www.UEFA.org
The 2014 Respect Diversity conference, organised jointly by UEFA, the FARE network and FIFPro (the world player’s union), aims to step up the fight against discrimination in European football.
The conference, to take place in Rome on 10 and 11 September and hosted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), gathers together over 200 delegates representing UEFA member associations, leagues, clubs, political and governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and minority groups, as well as relevant experts and media representatives.
The event will raise awareness of how to deal with all aspects of racism and discrimination in football with the participation of the game’s key stakeholders.
UEFA President Michel Platini will open the conference with a keynote speech, followed by a panel discussion with decision-makers from politics and sport.
UEFA President Michel Platini, photo credit uefa.org
Speaking ahead of the event, UEFA President Michel Platini said:
“At UEFA, we are committed to doing all we can to ensure diversity is respected in the world of football. Sport must embrace everyone, regardless of colour, faith, sexual orientation or political beliefs. I hope this conference, which we are organising with our partners, will encourage football leaders, coaches, players and fans to work together to stop all forms of discrimination.”
The conference will provide a platform for participants to share good practice on combating discrimination in different settings and across geographies and it will serve as a sounding board for practical solutions addressing the issue in the future.
Piara Powar, executive director of FARE, said:
“We are delighted to be working with UEFA on the 2014 Respect Diversity conference. The event brings together UEFA’s 54 member associations and the FARE network to collectively examine the challenges facing us in regards to discrimination and exclusion and to set out best practices. It will influence many associations and NGOs in their future work to ensure we have a sport that has equality and inclusion as a core practice.”
The second day of the conference will consist of workshops and a players’ panel discussion with former and current professional footballers.
Tony Higgins, FIFPro, photo credit pfascotland.co.uk
Tony Higgins, FIFPro Division Europe vice-president, said:
“FIFPro is delighted to bring the voice of players into the discussion at the Respect Diversity conference. Professional footballers worldwide are in a unique position to help educate and inspire society to accept diversity and respect all cultures.”
The conference will be held on 10/11 September at the Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel in Rome, Italy.
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