UEFA president Michel Platini will not attend his FIFA Ethics Committee hearing on Friday in protest, because he believes his case has been pre-judged.
Platini’s lawyers said in a statement on Wednesday that the verdict “was already announced in the press by a [FIFA Ethics Committee] spokesperson [Andreas Bantel] … without regard for the presumption of innocence.”
Though FIFA investigators have asked for a life ban to be imposed, the UEFA chief could reportedly escape with a suspension of several years that would still effectively exile him and end his FIFA presidential ambitions.
“Through this decision, Michel Platini intends to make known his deepest outrage at a procedure that he considers to be uniquely political and which aims to prevent him from standing for the FIFA presidency,” the France legend’s lawyers said.
Platini seemed to have lost the presumption of innocence and would be represented only by his lawyers, the statement said. According to Le Monde, Platini is exploring all possible follow-up actions, including legal proceedings, as a result of Bantel’s comments.
The decision was announced less than 90 minutes after FIFA Ethics Committee judges promised Platini a fair trial, even if he carried out a threat to boycott the hearing.
“We would like to clearly stress that the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee will deal with the present case in the same way as with any other procedure independently and in an unbiased manner,” the Ethics Committee panel’s statement read.
The case centres on a potential rule-breaking conflict of interest when Platini had a 2 million Swiss franc (£1.35m) payment from FIFA approved by Sepp Blatter in 2011 as a backdated salary.
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