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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2015 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL FIFA seeking life ban for Platini FORMER French football great Michel Platini, until recently seen as the man to lead football's gov- erning body FIFA out of its worst ever graft crisis, could face a life ban from the sport if recommen- dations from FIFA ethics investi- gators are followed. FIFA's ethics committee has completed an inquiry into accusa- tions of corruption against Platini, who as a player led French football out of the doldrums in the 1980s before becoming one of the sport's most powerful officials, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter A media consultant represent- ing Platini's lawyer Thibaud d'Ales said ethics committee official Va- nessa Allard had recommended a life ban for the Frenchman, who is head of European football's gov- erning body UEFA. "I can confirm that she is pro- posing to the ethics committee a ban for life," the consultant told Reuters. Allard's report has been passed to FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert who is due to issue a verdict by the end of the year. Swiss authorities opened crimi- nal proceedings against Blatter in September over a 2 million Swiss franc (£1.3 million) payment from FIFA to Platini in 2011. The case was part of a broader scandal that broke around FIFA in May when 14 officials including two ex-vice presidents were indicted in the United States. Platini, who in May said that he was disgusted by corruption within FIFA, and Blatter have both been suspended for 90 days. They deny wrongdoing. Blatter's former public relations officer and confidant Klaus Stoeh- lker said the Swiss did not want to "go into detail for now" on what the committee had recommended in his case. "He was very surprised at the news about Platini," Stoehlker added. Platini, still determined to run in February's election for president in Zurich, has registered as a can- didate but FIFA's electoral com- mittee has said his bid cannot be processed while he is suspended. He could be allowed back into the race if the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) accepts his appeal against the 90-day ban but could then be eliminated again if Eck- ert's panel hands him a long-term ban in its final verdict. If that happens, Platini would also have to quit his role UEFA president which he has held since 2007. For a long time, Platini was con- sidered the natural successor to Blatter who has weathered one crisis after another in his 17 years as FIFA president. The FIFA scandal is one of the biggest of several corruption affairs shaking world sport. International athletics has also suffered revela- tions of doping, largely affecting Russia, and corrupt manipulation of anti-doping test results. Platini was one of the most gifted players of his generation and in- spired a French team which played with an exuberant Gallic flourish that delighted international au- diences during the early to mid 1980s. He went on to coach the na- tional team, then played a key role in helping France host the 1998 World Cup before moving on to become a member of the FIFA and UEFA executive committees in 2002 and, finally, UEFA president in 2007. The FIFA payment to Platini was made in 2011 for work Platini had completed nine years earlier, the Swiss attorney-general's office has said, adding Platini was consid- ered "between a witness and an accused person." Platini says the payment was delayed only because of financial problems at FIFA. Fury ready to end Klitschko reign Tyson Fury was cool and relaxed as he came face to face with Wladimir Klitschko for the first time this week ahead of Saturday's highly-anticipated world heavyweight title clash in Germany UKRAINIAN veteran Klitschko, the WBA, WBO and IBF cham- pion, defends his titles against unbeaten Englishman Fury at the 55,000-capacity ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf on Saturday. The build-up to the fight has been colourful throughout and the two men met at a final press conference in the city on Tuesday with both men seeming calm and confident. Fury, who joked he was "nerv- ous and shaken" ahead of the big night, even claimed Klitschko will not be his toughest opponent. "I think this will be one of my easiest fights," said the 27-year- old. "It might sound crazy be- cause he's a 'super-champion' and has been world champion for 11 years. "But I see so many chinks in his armour and I'm going to ex- pose them very quickly. If I could choose any champion to fight, I'd choose him. "I can expose him and you'll see what I mean on Saturday night." Fury (24-0, 18KOs) joked that he was overly nervous ahead of his defining fight. "It all crashes down to me as soon as I land in the town and I see the big posters everywhere and I actually feel like I'm in- volved in a fight now and guess what? I'm really nervous. "I never felt this way before - ever. "I feel really anxious and re- ally nervous for this fight and all these people and cameras are actually making me shy and I'm forgetting what to say. "I'm actually shaking right now and I hope this is giving Wlad some confidence...not really, there we have it." Late on Monday, Fury said he would pull out of the title clash and even joked he would fight the champion ''bare knuckle'' if an agreement over gloves for the fight was breached. The Brit revealed he may have to wait until the day before the fight before he is certain of chal- lenging Klitschko, who stipulated the type of gloves for the bout but - when the manufacturer, Paffen, sent Fury a test pair to train in - he found them dangerously un- comfortable. A second, slightly different pair, were much better - but now he faces an anxious wait to see if they are ready in time. After some discussion over the gloves during Tuesday's press conference between Fury's man- ager Mick Hennessy and Kl- itschko's manager Bernd Bonte, the Mancunian joked: "Why don't we just settle this like (YouTube sensation) Ronny Pickering would? Bare knuckle outside you two right now, let's get it on! I'll have a tenner on Mick." The ever-cool Klitschko admit- ted he himself has to overcome the nerves that come before each fight and that he was looking for- ward to coming up against a "col- ourful" character in Fury. The 39-year-old, who boasts 64 wins from 67 fights (53 knock- outs) during his career, said: "There have been many fighters along the years that I have faced, that were different and this time I have a very colourful guy that is young and wants to have the real challenge. "And of course, I heard what he said that he's nervous. Which means he's well prepared and alert - because it's good to be nervous. "I'm nervous before every fight. I have to confront it, this is a fact. "I've been nervous before every fight and I always faced some challenges that I never thought in the training camp that I would be able to face in the ring later on." The men engaged in the tradi- tional stare-down after the press conference, with Fury talking to Klitschko throughout, compli- menting him on his appearance and fragrance before making 'bunny ears' in response to the champion telling him to hold his fist up for the cameras. BOXING Tyson Fury and WBA, WBO and IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko Michael Platini 20 Sport