By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Sepp Blatter says he is “bewildered by the insinuations and accusations” against him and that FIFA’s ethics committee has no option but to acquit him when he appears before them tomorrow to try and clear his name over the infamous SFr2 million payment made to Michel Platini by FIFA.
Insideworldfootball, along with a handful of other media organisations, has received a copy of a letter Blatter sent on Monday to all 209 FIFA member federations proclaiming his innocence as he prepares for his pivotal hearing before FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.
Both Blatter and Platini are currently suspended for 90 days and risk worldwide bans of between five and seven years though it is possible life bans could be imposed. In the letter, as already reported, Blatter pledges that once his suspension is over on January 5, he intends to carry on until officially stepping down on February 26. ” I am suspended but not isolated and not at all mute,” he writes on personal stationary.
The letter begins “Dear Friends” and ends with Blatter’s personal signature after defiantly pledging he “will not be silenced.”
“I have always undertaken my work with loyalty and good faith and all the time with respect, honesty and precision. These are the values my parents passed down to me and which have guided my private and professional life,” he writes.
Two of these values, says Blatter, are “never accept money which you have not earned” and “always pay off your debts”.
Whether contacting federations in this way is in violation of his current suspension is unclear but Blatter suggests FIFA’s entire membership had approved the payment even though it was made in 2011 for work carried out several years previously.
“The payment was put through the full administrative process, the correctness of which was confirmed by all competent FIFA bodies – including the Congress,” the letter states implying it was completely above board.
In a clear attempt to gain the moral high ground, Blatter also insists the payment was legal because it was a verbal agreement “and agreements must be adhered to.”
He likens the conduct of FIFA investigators to “The (Spanish) Inquisition”, confirming previous reports that the “maximum penalty” of a life ban has been recommended.
Yet tellingly, the letter does not explain why the oral contract with Platini, whose full hearing with Eckert is scheduled for Friday but who may not appear in person and instead be represented by his lawyers, was only between the two of them.
Nor does it explain why the February 2011 payment was made so close to Blatter’s re-election as FIFA president when it had apparently been agreed all those years before. After much consideration, Platini decided not to stand in the election, giving Blatter a free run.
A spokesman for the ethics committee said it was “analysing” Blatter’s letter before making any official statement. Eckert is due to announce his verdicts on Monday or Tuesday next week.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734883286labto1734883286ofdlr1734883286owedi1734883286sni@w1734883286ahsra1734883286w.wer1734883286dna1734883286