Sepp Blatter, his face partially covered by a huge plaster, today claimed he was being treated like a punchbag after he and Michel Platini were banned from all football activities for eight years and fined by the FIFA adjudicatory ethics chamber.
The decision, revealed in Zurich on Monday, brings a definitive end to Blatter and Platini's control of the sport, while the Frenchman will be unable to run for FIFA presidency on February 26.
The bans have been imposed by FIFA's ethics committee judge Hans-Joachim Eckert for a 'disloyal payment' of £1.35million (2million Swiss francs) to Platini, signed off by Blatter in 2011.
A dishevelled Blatter spoke at a packed news conference shortly after the decision was made and confirmed he will appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, insisting only the FIFA congress could remove him as president. He blamed everyone but himself and insisted: 'I'll be back'.
'I am really sorry. I am sorry that I am still somewhere a punching ball,' he said. 'I am sorry that as president of FIFA, I am this punching ball. I am sorry for football.'
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