Suspension for Blatter?
October 7, 2015
Klaus Stöhlker, who has advised Blatter in the past, told journalists the Ethics Committee called for the 90-day provisional suspension pending further investigations by the Swiss attorney general.
"There is no final decision, this is a recommendation from the lower part of the Ethics Committee to the upper part," Stöhlker said, according to Reuters news agency.
The decision by the committee still needs to be ratified by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, which is led by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
"President Blatter will be in his office at FIFA tomorrow," Stöhlker said.
Commenting on the Wednesday reports, Blatter's lawyers said their client had not been informed of any action taken by the FIFA ethics committee.
Counsellors Lorenz Erni and Richard Cullen said they "would expect that the ethics committee would want to hear from the president and his counsel, and conduct a thorough review of the evidence, before making any recommendation to take disciplinary action."
Blatter is under criminal investigation in Switzerland regarding a television contract and an alleged "disloyal payment" in 2011 of 2 million Swiss francs (today worth $2 million, 1.8 million euros) to UEFA President Michel Platini. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
Major sponsors have called on Blatter to step down from his office. However, the 79-year-old FIFA chief has insisted he will not resign.
sms/ls (dpa, SID, Reuters)