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"I WILL ACCEPT MY VERDICT"- SEPP BLATTER

       Against his six-years ban from football, the former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, begins his  final appeal in a quest to redeem himself after his tenure ended in a scandal.



            Over football ethic  violation the former FIFA president is seeking to over-turn the suspension that was imposed on him by the FIFA governing body as he entered into the World's Top Sport Court for his hearing. The 80-year-old Swiss while speaking with the press said he will accept what ever the court decides. "I will accept the verdict. I hope it will be positive for me, but we are a footballer, we learn how to win but also learn to lose.", he said.


           The downfall of Joseph "Sepp" Blatter begun in September, last year, where a report emerged that he was involved in a authorization of over €1.8 million in 2011 to his one-time heir apparent, Michel Platini, whuch also resulted in the french man also been sanctioned.

         Argument will only take a day while decision may take weeks.Platini had been hired by FIFA as a consultant from 1999 to 2002 and had apparently not received his full compensation.
“I am sure, at the end… that the panel will understand that the payment made to Platini was really a debt that we had” with him, Blatter said Thursday.
“This is a principle: if you have debts you pay them.”
FIFA’s ethics committee was not convinced by the explanation, banning both Blatter and Platini for eight years in December. Those suspensions were however cut to six years on appeal in February.
CAS however judged FIFA’s sanctions against Platini “too severe” and trimmed his suspension to four years.
That outcome would likely offer little comfort to the ageing Blatter, whose four-decade career as a football broker is likely over.
Separate from Thursday’s appeal, Blatter is also the target of a criminal investigation by Swiss prosecutors over the Platini payment and alleged mismanagement during his 17-year tenure as FIFA president.
He has been replaced in that job by fellow Swiss national and former UEFA number two Gianni Infantino in February.
An investigation commissioned by Infantino’s administration also accused Blatter and two top deputies — Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner — of awarding themselves nearly $80 million worth of improper salary increases and bonuses during their final five years in office.
Both Valcke and Kattner have been sacked by FIFA. Valcke is also the subject of a Swiss criminal probe.
Blatter and Platini were the most prominent casualties during more than a year unprecedented scandal that upended world football, but many others have fallen.
Prosecutors in New York have indicted 40 football and sports marketing executives over allegedly receiving tens of millions of bribes and kickbacks.
SOURCE:AFP
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