Blatter loses appeal against six-year ban

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has lost his appeal against a six-year ban from football.
The 80-year-old, who was forced out of office in February this year following allegations of corruption, took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport with the hope of overturning it, but he has failed. Blatter was suspended by FIFA after making an alleged “disloyal” £1.5m payment to Michel Platini, who was UEFA president at the time, in 2011.
Both individuals have denied any wrongdoing, with Blatter claiming that he paid Platini for work that the Frenchman had done at FIFA between 1999 and 2002.
Last December, Blatter was issued with an eight-year ban from all football-related activity, and after FIFA’s ethics committee reduced it to six on appeal, the Swiss businessman tried to have the entire suspension scrapped.
However, CAS has opted to uphold the ban, stating that Blatter ‘breached code of ethics’ by making the payment.