The FIFA adjudicatory committee has extended the bans of ex-president Sepp Blatter and former secretary-general Jerome Valcko in charges of violation of code of conduct.
FIFA announced the extension of a ban on former president Sepp Blatter for six more years on charges of receiving economic benefits, violating code of loyalty, conduct and ethics, mismanagement of employment contracts and reimbursing private legal funds to several FIFA officials and involved in a conflict of interest within the international federation.
Former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was also found guilty of making illegal payments about several FIFA competitions surrounding the 2010 World Cup, 2013 Confederation Cup, 2014 World Cup, 2017 Confederation Cup and 2018 Russia World Cup.
The FIFA statement on Wednesday read:
In its decisions, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that Mr Blatter had breached art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest) and art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) of the FCE, while Mr Valcke was found to have violated art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and art. 25 (Abuse of position) of the FCE.
Consequently, Messrs Blatter and Valcke have both been sanctioned with bans from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for a period of six years and eight months. In addition, fines to the amount of CHF 1,000,000 have been imposed on both Messrs Blatter and Valcke.
As the previous bans from taking part in all football-related activity imposed on Messrs Blatter and Valcke by the independent Ethics Committee in 2015 and 2016 have not yet been purged, the bans notified today will only come into force upon the expiry of the previous bans (i.e. on 8 October 2021 and 8 October 2025, respectively).
Blatter was found guilty of accepting around 23 million Swiss francs and made more than 45 million Swiss francs payments to other officials. The former secretary-general, Valcke was found guilty of accepting economic benefits of around 30 million Swiss francs in regards to hosting rights and infrastructural funds concerning several international FIFA events from 2015 to 2019.
Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke were barred from being involved in any administrator role in the sport since 2015. The ban, which was supposed to end in October, will now extend for six more years till 2027. Both Blatter and Valcke have 21 days to appeal against the FIFA adjudicatory chamber’s decision with assistance from their lawyers.
Blatter’s spokesperson Thomas Renggli made a statement reacting to the extension of the ban. The statement called the extension as “painful and incomprehensible blow” and added:
The ethics committee in its current form has nothing to do with an independent body – it is much more the extended arm of the Fifa president [Gianni Infantino] and not much more than a ‘parallel justice’.
UEFA President Michel Platini was also involved in the illegal payments made around officials within FIFA and was handed an eight-year ban with Sepp Blatter. According to the Court of Arbitration of Sport and FIFA appeals committee, the initial ban resulting up to 2023 was reduced to six years and was supposed to get over by 2021. Jerome Valcke’s ban was also initially for a period of 12 years from 2015 and was cut to 10.
The extension of the FIFA ban is a sign of things that the international federation has deep roots of economic corruption and is not ready to have a return of the officials who have been deemed guilty so far.
