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FIFA panel says Blatter not exempt from its rules
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FIFA鈥檚 ethics watchdog has rejected suspended President Sepp Blatter鈥檚 claim that he is not subject to its rules and that only Congress can bar him from his role as head of the scandal-plagued global soccer body.
Blatter has been suspended for 90 days along with European soccer boss Michel Platini, engulfed by a deepening corruption scandal as the sport faces criminal investigations in Switzerland and the US.
FIFA鈥檚 ethics committee is investigating their conduct and they could face a much longer suspensions when the final verdict in the case is announced, probably in December.
In a Swiss television interview on Wednesday, Blatter compared himself to a head-of-state who could only be removed by parliament. He said that it was up to FIFA鈥檚 Congress, consisting of the 209 national football associations who each hold one vote, to oust him.
However, Andreas Bantel, spokesman for the ethics panel, said yesterday: 鈥淭he FIFA code of ethics applies to anyone who is involved in football worldwide and there are absolutely no exceptions whatsoever.鈥
The FIFA corruption scandal broke in May with a police raid and arrests of soccer officials at a Zurich hotel just before a congress of the body. Some 14 officials, including two former vice-presidents, have been indicted in the United States.
Meanwhile, the committee has donated 48 luxury watches it recovered from officials to a non-profit organization.
During a FIFA Congress organized on the eve of last year鈥檚 World Cup in Brazil, the Brazilian confederation (CBF) distributed gift bags with the watches to football officials including members of FIFA鈥檚 executive committee.
The CBF initially said the Parmigiani watches were given to a group of 65 officials but the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee said it found evidence that several of them did not receive the watch.
After ruling they were unauthorized gifts, the investigatory chamber of the committee decided against opening disciplinary proceedings against the officials who had received the watch on the condition that they returned it.
鈥淎fter contacting all potential recipients, 48 watches were returned to the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee,鈥 FIFA said in a statement, without mentioning if some of the watches were still missing.
FIFA earlier said that the Brazilians obtained the watches from sponsor Parmigiani for US$8,750 each. But an appraisal found that they had a market value of 25,000 Swiss francs (US$26,600). The watches will be given to an organization named streetfootballworld, 鈥渨ho will directly invest all resources generated through the sale of the watches into initiatives across Brazil that use football to drive social change.鈥
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