Already banished from football for eight years, former FIFA leaders Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are again facing the threat of life bans.
FIFA ethics prosecutors said on Tuesday they will appeal to increase the bans, arguing they are too lenient.
“The investigatory chamber intends to appeal against the decision against Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini at the appeal committee of FIFA,” the prosecution unit said in a statement.
The counter-challenge revives the prospect of life bans, which both men revealed had been recommended by investigators before their ethics hearings last month. Instead, Blatter and Platini were banned for a range of lesser violations of the FIFA ethics code, including accepting or receiving gifts and conflicts of interest.
They deny wrongdoing over Blatter approving a $2 million payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011 as backdated salary without a contract.
Platini worked as a presidential adviser to Blatter from 1999-2002 but did not claim the money owed to him for more than eight years, when FIFA was no longer obliged by Swiss law to pay him.
The case has ended Platini’s bid to succeed his former mentor as FIFA president in an election on Feb. 26. Blatter wants to clear his name and host the election meeting in Zurich as a farewell to FIFA after more than 40 years.
The FIFA appeals committee rarely cuts or annuls sanctions imposed by the governing body’s ethics or disciplinary panels.
Blatter and Platini have said they expect their cases will fail at FIFA before they pursue further appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Platini appeals eight-year ban
Paris: UEFA president Michel Platini has officially appealed to FIFA’s appeal committee against his eight-year ban from football, sources close to the former France international player confirmed on Tuesday.
FIFA’s ethics tribunal on Saturday provided world football governing body president Sepp Blatter and vice-president Platini with the reasons for their decision to ban them for eight years, clearing the way for both to appeal the decision.
Platini’s lawyer Thibaud d’Ales said the UEFA president had received the reasons behind the ban, and they would “analyse them and launch an appeal on Monday”.
Blatter, who has headed FIFA since 1998, confirmed on Sunday he also intends to appeal.
If FIFA’s appeals board upholds the decision, both can then appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in lausanne, the highest tribunal in sports.
The ban has dealt a devastating blow to 60-year-old Platini’s hopes of taking over as head of FIFA in an election on February 26.
The UEFA president pulled out of the race last week, saying the ban has made it impossible for him to put together a campaign to take on the sport’s most powerful job.