FIFA suspensions: what you need to know

Four top FIFA officials were suspended on October 8 including long-standing president Sepp Blatter and UEFA head Michel Platini, once thought a possible successor to Blatter. What’s going on?  Who’s been suspended?  FIFA’s ethics committee handed out a 90-day “provisional suspension” with immediate effect to Sepp Blatter, the 79-year-old Swiss who has been president of world football’s governing body FIFA since 1998, Michel Platini, head of European football’s governing body UEFA and a FIFA vice-president, and Secretary General Jerome Valcke. The suspensions can be extended by up to 45 days. All three have denied any wrongdoing.  South Korea’s former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon was also banned from the game for six years.  Why?  The ethics committee did not give any details of the offences committed by Blatter and Platini, referring to ongoing investigations. But it is almost certainly looking into a CHF2 million ($2.06 million) payment from FIFA to ...