FIFA Presidency: Michel Platini Withdraws Officially

Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy for the Fifa presidency in order to clear his name following his eight-year ban from football.

Platini will appeal the sanction handed down by Fifa's ethics committee over an alleged "disloyal payment" made by Sepp Blatter to the Frenchman in 2011.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe, an extract of which was published on Thursday, he said: "I am no longer putting myself forward to be president of Fifa, I have withdrawn my candidacy.

FIFA Decision Was A "Masquerade" Intended To "Sully" My name - Michel Platini

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini remained defiant on Monday despite being banned from football by Fifa. Both men vowed to keep fighting in their own defence after being suspended for eight years over an ethics violation.

Blatter, Fifa's president since 1998, said he had been "betrayed" by the ethics committee which levelled his suspension and accused judges of ignoring key evidence he believes should have cleared his name.

The 79-year-old Swiss national said he would "immediately" appeal to a Fifa committee against the ban, before taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne if need be.

FIFA Scandal: Platini, Blatter Bags Eight Years Suspension From Football

FIFA has finally delivered a judgement on Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter. The duo have been suspended from all football activities for eight years.

Eight years! That might not mean anything to much for the 79 years old Blatter who was set to quit FIFA before but the former FIFA President will have to bow out in shame. Its been hectic for him to condone the embarrassment that has followed this scandal as the aged man even acknowledged that the situation almost took his life.

For Michel Platini it's a big blow as the French man was well positioned to become the new FIFA President. This might mean that Platini might also loose is sit as the President of UEFA. Read the full statement from FIFA after the cut...

FIFA Scandal: Michel Platini Set To Boycott FIFA Corruption Hearing

For Michel Platini the FIFA Presidency bid has been lost and the French man has insisted that he won't sit for the FIFA probe which is to hold on Friday.

Michel Platini has refused to attend his hearing with the FIFA Ethics Committee on Friday after accusing a spokesperson of breaching his "fundamental rights".

The UEFA president and FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter, both of whom are currently serving suspensions while allegations of a "disloyal payment" between the two are investigated, were due to appear before FIFA's ethics committee judge Hans-Joachim Eckhart in Zurich this week.

FIFA Scandal: Michel Platini To Get Suspended For Years

The ethics committee will certainly not back of until they are sure Platini gets the adequate punishment for the allegations leveled against him.

Suspended European football chief Michel Platini will "be suspended for several years", the spokesman of Fifa's ethics committee Andreas Bantel told French sports daily L'Equipe on Friday.

Platini and Fifa president Sepp Blatter are both currently serving 90-day bans while an investigation is held into a two million Swiss franc payment from the world governing body to the Frenchman.

FIFA Suspension: CAS Rejects Platini's Appeal

Just exactly the way i predicted that CAS will not favour Platini and that he won't contest the FIFA presidential election, reports have now confirmed the prediction. It's looking certain that Platini will not only loose out from FIFA but facts being revealed lately shows that there are more allegations for the UEFA president to answer in days to come.

Michel Platini's appeal against the temporary lifting of his 90-day Fifa suspension has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but football's governing body has been ordered not to extend the sanction.

Uefa president Platini - along with outgoing Fifa boss Sepp Blatter - was banned in early October by Fifa's Ethics Committee over a "disloyal payment" allegedly made to the Frenchman in 2011, though both deny any wrongdoing.

FIFA Presidency: Gianni Infantino Promises Reforms

Gianni Infantino seems like a puppet of Platini and Blatter. Some football pundits have argued that he was pushed to contest after it was perceived that the FIFA ethic committee who had suspended Michel Platini ahead of the election might rule Platini out of the election. Most potential votes for the suspended Platini are believed to go in the favour of Infantino.

Uefa's Gianni Infantino said he would work to clean up Fifa from "day one" if elected leader after an evening of close discussions with his Asian rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

Infantino told AFP that he would instigate reforms immediately if he is elected on February 26 to succeed the suspended and deeply controversial Sepp Blatter.

FIFA Ethics Committee Wants Life Ban For Michel Platini

With days counting it look seems as if Platini will not be allowed to contest for the FIFA presidency as it looks like some powers in FIFA are set to deal with his errors. A life ban from football will certainly make Platini go weird. 

Fifa's ethics watchdog wants Michel Platini to be banned for life over a suspect payment, the European football chief's lawyer declared on Tuesday.

Platini is serving a 90-day suspension on corruption charges over a $2 million payment he received from Fifa president Sepp Blatter who is also suspended.

Platini, Blatter To Get FIFA Judgement In December

The judgement arm of Fifa's ethics committee on Monday opened a case against the body's suspended president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, with a verdict in the corruption allegations surrounding both men due next month.

The panel of judges, known as the adjudicatory chamber, received the final report from the ethics committee's investigative branch on Saturday, which called for sanctions to be levelled against both men.

A guilty verdict would almost certainly crush Uefa president Platini's hopes of succeeding Blatter at the top of world football's governing body.

Michel Platini To Appeal FIFA Suspension At CAS

Michel Platini will appeal his suspension by FIFA at the court of arbitration for sport. The UEFA president has been ruled out from the FIFA presidency election due to his suspension.

Uefa president Michel Platini will appeal his 90-day suspension by world football's governing body Fifa at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), his lawyers said Wednesday.

The Frenchman's decision comes after a Fifa appeal committee on Wednesday rejected a bid by long-time president Sepp Blatter and Platini to overturn their 90-day suspensions while Swiss police pursue a criminal investigation.

FIFA Presidency: Michel Platini Declares Self As Best Man For The Job

In the midst of bribery and corrupt allegations UEFA president Michel Platini has declared himself as the best candidate for the job of the FIFA president ahead of the 2016 election. Platini is currently on a 90-day suspension due to corruption allegations. Only time will tell if the FIFA ethic committee will allow him contest the election.

European football supremo Michel Platini insisted on Thursday that he remains the best man to lead scandal-hit Fifa despite currently being suspended from the sport.

The French legend, one of seven candidates to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa president, believes that his experience as a player, coach and administrator far outstrips any of his six rivals.

FIFA Scandal: English FA Not Backing Platini

Platini felt some relief yesterday but it seems the English FA which happens to be the strongest UEFA member just hit him with a bombshell. The FA just announced that they have pulled their support away from Platini's FIFA presidential campaign. That will certainly signal more trouble for Platini's camp and more bodies can follow the lead of the English FA.

The English Football Association has suspended support for Michel Platini's bid to become Fifa president, after learning "more information relating to the issues at the centre of this case from Mr Platini's lawyers".

UEFA Begins Talks Over Platini's Suspension

Europe's supreme football body, UEFA will sit today to discuss allegations surrounding the president of the body. Michel Platini was suspended for 90 days by FIFA and if UEFA should also find him guilty of the allegations he will certainly be suspended and that will signal the end of his quest to be the next FIFA president.

Uefa's crisis talks called to discuss the plight of its suspended president Michel Platini got underway on Thursday in Nyon.

The emergency meeting at the Swiss headquarters of European football's ruling body will give Platini a strong indication of the level of support he can count on in his bid to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa.

FIFA Scandal: Platini Appeals Against FIFA Ban

Uefa chief Michel Platini has appealed against a 90-day ban slapped on him over an ongoing corruption probe, as Fifa gears up for a crunch meeting over its raging sleaze crisis.

The news comes a day after Fifa president Sepp Blatter also launched an appeal against a simliar 90-day ban from all football-related activities over a Swiss criminal inquiry.

The bans on Blatter and Platini – the two most powerful men in world football – were announced by Fifa on Thursday as its ethics watchdog geared up its investigation into fraud and corruption at the heart of the organisation.

Michel Platini Will Appeal FIFA Ban - UEFA

European soccer body Uefa said on Thursday Michel Platini will not be replaced as president after he was provisionally suspended from the sport by Fifa's Ethics Committee.

"The Uefa Executive Committee saw no need, at this moment in time, to invoke Article 29(5) of the Uefa Statutes, pursuant to which the highest-ranking Vice-President of Uefa may step in to assume the powers and duties of the president in his absence," Uefa said in a statement.

Isa Hayatou Emerges Has New Acting President Of FIFA

Blatter, Platini and Valcke's suspension from FIFA will not only pave way for CAF president Isa Hayatou but it might help him lunch back a campaign to football's highest office after failed attempts. Hayatou is now the acting president of FIFA and with corruption scandals nailing Platini the Cameroonian might fancy is chance of wining the election if Platini is unable to contest due to a ban. Is this the time for Africa?

Sepp Blatter has been relieved of his duties as Fifa president after he was banned from all footballing activity for 90 days and replaced by CAF head Issa Hayatou.

Fifa announced on Thursday that Blatter, alongside presidential candidate Michel Platini and general secretary Jerome Valcke, had been suspended for 90 days, following approval by the governing body's adjudicatory chamber of a recommendation made the organisation's ethics committee.

FIFA Scandal: FIFA Suspends Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini & Others

After various critics and FIFA sponsors have urged the body to suspend Blatter and his allies the body has risen to the occasion by  suspending the FIFA president and his most likely successor Michel Platini.

Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and Jerome Valcke have officially been handed 90-day bans by the Fifa Ethics Committee.

Along with the powerful trio, Chung Mong-joon, a South Korean official who has served as vice president of Fifa, has been banned for six years and fined £67,924.

FIFA Scandal: Amos Adamu Wants Blatter & Platini Punished

Former Fifa executive committee member, Dr Amos Adamu, has called on the world football governing body's ethics committee to suspend Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.

Adamu's call for two of the most powerful men in world football to be suspended comes after Swiss prosecutors opened proceedings against the outgoing Fifa president, Blatter, over "disloyal payment" to Platini was allegedly uncovered. The amount is believed to be over £1.3 million.

But the 62-year-old Nigerian is "not too surprised" with the happenings in Fifa as he perceived the crisis rocking the world football governing body will erupt at some point.

FIFA Scandal: Platini Implicated In Blatter's Probe

Michel Platini may have emerged as the favourite to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of scandal-riddled Fifa, but it is his close links to the veteran Swiss that threaten to end his dreams of running world football's governing body.

The current Uefa president and once one of the greatest players in the world when he starred for Saint-Etienne, Juventus and France in the 1980s, Platini has tried to position himself as the man to clean up an organisation brought to its knees by endless corruption scandals in recent months.

But on Friday he was implicated as Swiss authorities opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, with the outgoing head of Fifa accused of making a "disloyal payment" to Platini of two million Swiss francs ($2.04 million).

FIFA: Swiss Prosecutors Open Criminal Proceedings Against Sepp Blatter

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of world soccer body Fifa, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, the Swiss attorney general's office said on Friday.

It said Blatter was interrogated after a meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Zurich, and authorities carried out a search at Fifa headquarters on Friday.

"The office of the Fifa President has been searched and data seized," the office of the attorney general (OAG) said.