The Adjudicatory Chamber of the independent FIFA Ethics Committee has opened formal proceedings against FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter (pictured, right) and UEFA President Michel Platini (pictured, left), both of whom it provisionally suspended for 90 days on 8 October. The decision to open formal proceedings was taken shortly after Platini launched an appeal against his provisional suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Thibault d’Ales, representing Platini, questioned the timing of FIFA’s decision to open formal proceedings against the pair. The Adjudicatory Chamber announced that it had received final reports concerning the Investigatory Chamber’s investigation into both men on 21 November, the day after Platini lodged his appeal with the CAS. Formal proceedings against both men were announced on the 23rd.

“It is a troubling coincidence, the day after our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against Michel Platini’s provisional suspension”, Thibaud d’Ales, representing Platini, told AFP. “It’s farcical. It would be laughable if we were not talking about the future of the biggest non-governmental institution in the world.”

Details of the sanctions requested by the Adjudicatory Chamber will not be publicised, however a decision on them will be announced in December. On 21 October, the Investigatory Chamber confirmed that it was examining a CHF2 million (€1.8 million) payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011. The payment was in connection to consultancy work that Platini carried out for Blatter between 1998 and 2002. Platini has explained that FIFA told him it couldn’t afford to pay him at the time, and that he didn’t pursue payment until 2011.

Platini has denied any suggestion that FIFA’s settlement of the owed money had anything to do with his decision not to stand against Joseph S. Blatter in a 2011 FIFA Presidential election. The payment also closely followed FIFA’s decision to appoint Russia and Qatar as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, respectively. Platini has admitted that he changed his vote to Qatar at the last minute.

There is no suggestion or evidence that Platini has done anything wrong. His decision not to seek payment until 2011, a year in which FIFA reported relatively small profits, may just be coincidental. However, critics will argue that his decision to seek payment at that time represented a poor choice, given the proximity of a FIFA election he was expected to contest and the controversial ‘double appointment’ of Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts, and the allegations of bribery that followed.