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Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini suspended by Fifa: Here's everything you need to know

Fifa has provisionally banned its president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, the president of Uefa, in the wake of a Swiss criminal investigation.

Here's what we know so far:

  • The pair, alongside secretary general Jerome Valcke, have been banned for 90 days following a decision by the Fifa ethics committee

  • A Swiss criminal investigation has been focusing on Blatter allegedly misusing Fifa money by making an alleged $2 million 'disloyal payment' to Platini

  • Platini had been questioned as a witness by the investigators, according to the Associated Press

What else is being reported:

Sepp Blatter (Picture: Getty)

  • The 90-day ban includes a provision to be extended by 45 days

  • The ban could therefore effectively end Blatter's 17-year reign as the head of the football's world governing body

  • Dr Chung Mong-Joon, a South Korean businessman and Fifa presidential hopeful, has also been banned for a period of six years and fined 100,000 Swiss Francs (£72,000), after being found to have behaved improperly in the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup

  • Fifa's ethics committee says it is unable to comment on the details of the decision until they are made final

  • Issa Hayatou of Cameroon is expected to take over as interim head of Fifa while Spain's Angel Maria Villar will take the reins at Uefa, according to the Guardian

  • Meanwhile, Sepp Blatter's lawyer has released this statement:

What are the wider implications?:

Michel Platini (Picture: Getty)

  • Blatter had previously declared he would carry on as president until February 26th, when an extraordinary election takes place

  • Platini had been one of the front-runners to replace Blatter

  • The Independent's Tom Peck reports that the news came just minutes after Platini announced he had submitted his required five nominations from Fifa nations to run in February’s election

  • The news is also likely to be embarrassing for the English FA who had backed Platini to take over as a "reform candidate"

  • Fifa has been embroiled in crisis since May when six senior officials were among fourteen arrested at the governing body's annual congress

Read the latest from the Independent here.

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