The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee chaired by Hans Joachim Eckert has provisionally banned FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, UEFA President and FIFA Vice-President Michel Platini, and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke (who has already been put on leave by his employer FIFA) for a duration of 90 days. The duration of the bans may be extended for an additional period not exceeding 45 days.
The former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon has been banned for six years and fined CHF 100,000. During this time, the above individuals are banned from all football activities on a national and international level. The bans come into force immediately.
The grounds for these decisions are the investigations that are being carried out by the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee. The chairman of the chamber is Dr Cornel Borbély. The investigation into Joseph S. Blatter is being carried out by Robert Torres, the investigation into Michel Platini by Vanessa Allard.
The proceedings against the South Korean football official Chung Mong-joon were opened in January 2015 based on findings in the report on the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups™. He has been found guilty of infringing article 13 (General rules of conduct), article 16 (Confidentiality), article 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting), article 41 (Obligation of the parties to collaborate) and article 42 (General obligation to collaborate) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
The Ethics Committee is unable to comment on the details of the decisions until they become final, due to the provisions of article 36 (Confidentiality) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
And with that statement, FIFA, the world soccer governing body, suspended President Sepp Blatter, UEFA President Michel Platini, and honorary Vice-President Chung Mong-Joon.
Issa Hayatou will assume the duties as Interim FIFA President, while Angel Maria Villar of Spain will be the interim UEFA President.
While the steps taken here by the FIFA Ethics Committee are seen by most as long overdue, there will be anxious times ahead for the organization, as it remains to be seen whether or not these measures will simply have the effect of cutting just one head off the Hydra.
UPDATE
FIFA has confirmed that Hayatou, as the longest-serving Vice-President, will take over as the interim President.
UPDATE
The International Olympic Committee has weighed in on the situation, with President Thomas Bach delivering a terse statement:
UPDATE
Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman and US Soccer Federation head Sunil Gulati have separately called for an emergency meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee to determine the next course of action.
Per the Associated Press:
“These are exceptional circumstances and that is why we need the meeting. Only together will we overcome these difficult times,” said Sheikh Salman, who also heads the Asian Football Confederation.
Sunil Gulati, a member of the executive committee and head of the United States Soccer Federation, also called for an emergency summit.
“A number of us have asked for an emergency executive committee meeting to discuss the way forward over the near term,” Gulati said.
Also, Blatter’s Twitter profile no longer contains any reference to FIFA.
TheAOSN will continue updating this story throughout the day.
See also: FIFA Ethics Committee Recommends Blatter Suspension