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Blatter ‘will attend Fifa appeal hearing’: lawyer

Blatter's appeal will be heard by Fifa's appeals commission just 10 days before the extraordinary congress in Zurich on February 26th when a vote will be held to appoint a new president of world football's governing body.

Published: 6 February 2016 12:48 CET

Blatter 'will attend Fifa appeal hearing': lawyer

Blatter's hearing is scheduled 24 hours after that of fallen Uefa president Michel Platini. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Blatter's hearing is scheduled 24 hours after that of fallen Uefa president Michel Platini, who is also appealing against his eight-year suspension.

Asked by AFP whether Blatter, 79, would attend the hearing in person, spokesman Klaus Stoehlker responded: “I confirm.”

Both Blatter and Platini were banned for eight years on December 21st over a two-million-franc ($2 million) payment that Blatter authorized for Platini in 2011 for work done a decade earlier.

Fifa's ethics committee said it would appeal against the sentence saying it is too lenient.

Anti-corruption investigators had originally sought a life ban from all football activity against Blatter and Platini.

Depending on the Fifa judges' verdict, both men could take their respective cases to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, the highest tribunal in sports.

Blatter, who has headed Fifa since 1998, has spoken of his wish to preside at the upcoming presidential election, in which Platini was seen as the favourite to succeed the Swiss before the scandal erupted.

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Merkel's conservative party moves to clean up after 'mask affair'

Angela Merkel on Tuesday. Photo: DPA

A lawmaker from Merkel’s CDU party and another from its CSU Bavarian sister party have been accused of profiting directly or indirectly from mask contracts.

In a move to clean house, the conservative CDU-CSU alliance on Wednesday ordered all of its MPs to declare any financial benefits gained from the coronavirus pandemic by 6pm on Friday.

All members of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group will have to make “a declaration that no such benefits were obtained in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic”, says the letter addressed to the lawmakers, dated March 10th.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s face mask scandal

This declaration must take into account any financial benefits “from the purchase or sale of medical products such as protective equipment, testing and vaccination supplies, from the provision of contacts, from the forwarding of offers or enquiries, or from the provision of support or advice to third parties”, the letter seen by AFP says.

In the event that such a declaration cannot be made, MPs are urged to report directly to two senior party members.

CSU lawmaker Georg Nüsslein was last month placed under investigation for corruption following accusations that he accepted around €600,000 ($715,000) to lobby for a mask supplier.

A similar controversy has embroiled CDU lawmaker Nikolas Löbel, whose company pocketed 250,000 euros in commissions for acting as an intermediary in mask contracts.

Löbel has resigned from his MP post and Nüsslein has said he will leave after September’s elections, with the deals drawing scathing criticism across the political spectrum.

Amid the fallout from the scandal dubbed the “mask affair” by German media, the conservatives said they had “a responsibility to present and clarify such matters in a completely transparent manner”.

The scandal has led to a drop in the CDU’s popularity ratings just days ahead of two key regional elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.

The state elections will be a litmus test ahead of Germany’s general election on September 26th – the first in over 15 years not to feature outgoing chancellor Merkel.

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