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Blatter down but not out in wake of FIFA ban

Monday, December 21, 2015 - 01:34

A defiant Sepp Blatter refuses to accept his eight-year ban, handed down by the FIFA Ethics Committee, and says he will continue to fight against the ban.

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RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT SHOWS: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (DECEMBER 21, 2015) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SUSPENDED FIFA PRESIDENT SEPP BLATTER ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUSPENDED FIFA PRESIDENT, SEPP BLATTER, SAYING: "I am now suspended eight years. Suspended eight years. But I will fight - fight for me, and I will fight for FIFA. Suspended eight years for what?" 3. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUSPENDED FIFA PRESIDENT, SEPP BLATTER, SAYING: "Let us say that I am really sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry that I am still, somewhere, a punching bowl (punching bag). I am sorry that I am, as president of FIFA, this punching bowl and I am sorry for football. I am sorry for the Federation Internationale de Football Association, that I am serving now more than 40 years. I am sorry for that. I am sorry for the 400-plus FIFA team members that are working in FIFA. I am sorry about that. I am sorry. But I am also sorry about me, the way I am treated in this world of humanitarian qualities." STORY: FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini were both banned from soccer for eight years on Monday (December 21) for ethics violations, leaving the global game leaderless as it struggles with a swirl of corruption cases. The pair, who were also fined, had been suspended in October while an investigation was carried out into a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.02 million) payment that soccer's global governing body made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval. The decision means that Blatter's 17 years at the helm of world soccer will end in disgrace, and spells the end of Platini's hopes of replacing the 79-year-old in a presidential election in February. Blatter said he would fight against the ban. "I am now suspended eight years. Suspended eight years. But I will fight - fight for me, and I will fight for FIFA. Suspended eight years for what?" he asked reporters at a news conference in Zurich. The Swiss added he would take his objections to FIFA's appeals body, go before the Lausanne-based sports arbitration panel CAS, or take legal action under Swiss law if needed. Blatter, who spent four decades at FIFA, came out swinging, telling reporters that he was sorry only that the president of FIFA was being treated as a "punching ball". "Let us say that I am really sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry that I am still, somewhere, a punching bowl (punching bag)," said Blatter, unshaven and with a sticking plaster on his cheek, but defiant. "I am sorry that I am, as president of FIFA, this punching bowl and I am sorry for football. I am sorry for the Federation Internationale de Football Association, that I am serving now more than 40 years. I am sorry for that. I am sorry for the 400-plus FIFA team members that are working in FIFA. I am sorry about that. I am sorry. But I am also sorry about me, the way I am treated in this world of humanitarian qualities."