FIFA Ethics Committee Denies Dropping Corruption Charges Against Platini

The FIFA world football governing body’s Ethics Committee did not drop all corruption charges against former UEFA head Michel Platini accused of illegally receiving 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million), the Ethics Committee’s Adjudicatory Chamber told R-Sport on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Italian media reported earlier in the day that all charges against Platini have been dropped, two days ahead of a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing.

"The report of ANSA is absolutely wrong. The judgment of the Adjudicatory Chamber in the case of M. Platini is unchanged," Adjudicatory Chamber spokesman Mark Tenbuecken said.

On December 21, 2015, the chamber banned 60-year-old Platini with former FIFA President Joseph Blatter from football-related activities for eight years over corruption allegations.

Both Platini and Blatter appealed the bans with the CAS in mid-March, which was due to hold a hearing in the case on Friday.

Platini stood accused of receiving a payment of $2.05 million from FIFA and Blatter in 2011 in purported violation of the organization's ethics code. The French official maintained that the compensation was for his 1999-2002 work on a global development project and for accompanying Blatter on business trips based on a handshake agreement.