Fifa committee recommends lifetime bans for Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter

Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter are both facing possible lifetime bans on corruption charges brought by Fifa’s ethics committee.

Uefa president Platini’s lawyer has confirmed the recommendation by ethics investigators is for a lifetime ban for the Frenchman and it is believed that the same recommended sanction applies to the case of outgoing Fifa president Blatter.

The recommended sanctions relate to corruption charges brought over a £1.3m (€2m) payment made to Platini from Fifa in 2011 that was signed off by Blatter. The pair also face charges of mismanagement, conflict of interest, false accounting and non co-operation with or criticising the ethics committee. Formal hearings into allegations of Fifa’s ethics code breaches will take place later this month.

A spokesman for Platini’s lawyer Thibaut D’Ales confirmed the recommendation from the ethics committee’s investigatory chamber was for a lifetime ban if the charges are proved.

It is understood Blatter is also facing corruption charges, which under Court of Arbitration for Sport guidelines carry a lifetime ban if proved.

Blatter’s spokesman Klaus Stoehlker said the 79-year-old had yet to be informed of the recommended sanction but was “deeply surprised” to learn of that facing Platini.

Both men are currently serving a provisional 90-day suspension.

Blatter is also considering an attempt to go over the head of the ethics committee, claiming it does not have the power to remove him as president.

Stoehlker said: “Mr Blatter was elected by the Fifa congress and only the congress can remove his power.”

French sports daily L’Equipe reported Platini’s lawyer D’Ales as saying the recommended lifetime ban was a “pure scandal” and claimed it had been deliberately leaked to further damage Platini’s hopes of running for the Fifa presidency.

Meanwhile, France plans to maintain public areas for thousands of soccer supporters to watch games on big screens at the European soccer championship next year despite security fears following the Paris attacks.

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said after a security briefing yesterday that security would be reinforced but “the popular dimension of this competition should not be penalised by the current context”.

Sports minister Patrick Kanner said that with retention of the so-called fan zones “we want to tell the French people and foreigners that everything is under control.”

In Paris, the zone is expected to have a 120,000 capacity and will be situated on the Champs de Mars, below the Eiffel Tower. France has been in a state of emergency since coordinated attacks, claimed by Islamic State, on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a soccer stadium killed 130 and injured over 350.