Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/618165
58 58 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2015 Sport FIFA SCANDAL FORMULA 1 Platini says FIFA ethics committee decided his guilt in advance SUSPENDED European football chief Michel Platini has accused a FIFA ethics committee of de- nying him a fair hearing on the corruption allegations against him and finding him guilty in advance. Platini declined to attend a meeting of the ethics commit- tee on Friday, instead sending a statement which was read out by his lawyer and released to the media on Saturday. "I decided not to come before you to present my explanations in person. For one reason, and one only: I've already been judged, I've already been found guilty," the former French midfielder and head of European football body UEFA said. Platini was the favourite to replace Sepp Blatter as head of world governing body FIFA but has himself become mired in the corruption scandal engulfing the sport, in which dozens of former top officials and marketing exec- utives have been indicted by U.S. authorities. He himself has not been charged, but FIFA is investigat- ing him and Blatter, who is also suspended, over a 2 million Swiss francs ($1.97 million) transfer from FIFA to Platini in 2011. Both men say it was a legitimate payment for work the Frenchman had done. In the statement read by his lawyer, Platini said a series of comments by FIFA officials, in- cluding anonymous briefings to the press, had made clear that the ethics committee had already determined his guilt. "I no longer have confidence in the disciplinary bodies of FIFA. They have shown their bias, their prejudices, their inability to re- spect confidentiality, the pre- sumptionof innocence and the rights of the defence," he said. Blatter appeared before the eth- ics committee on Thursday and a final decision is expected by the end of this month. Earlier this week, Blatter wrote to FIFA's 209 member state asso- ciations, on his own stationery, proclaiming his innocence. Michel Platini Ecclestone doubtful over 2017 German GP FORMULA 1 supremo Bernie Ec- clestone has cast further doubt over the long-term future of the German Grand Prix, claiming it is unlikely that the event will take place in 2017. Hockenheim and Nürburgring shared hosting duties under a deal which began in 2007, but the Nür- burgring backed out of its agree- ment to host the 2015 race and Hockenheim was not willing to fill the void. Under the previously agreed deal, Hockenheim will host the German Grand Prix in 2016 but Ecclestone is downbeat over the prospect of another race at the Nürburgring, which the sport most recently vis- ited in 2013. "I don't believe that this will hap- pen," Ecclestone told Motorsport- Magazin, regarding the idea of a 2017 race at the venue. "We can say for sure, that there will be no race. It's a pity, because when the Nürburgring was for sale [in 2014], I agreed to buy it. They came back to me and told me that they have a better offer. "Maybe one or two million higher than my offer. I said: 'I made only one offer. If somebody wants to pay more, sell it to him.' They've sold it to a person and this person resold it. "The stupidity was [that] because of two million they've lost some- body who had guaranteed that there would have been races for 100 years and who would have tried to im- prove the things. "They ran away for a few dollars more. And what did they achieve? It is disappointing and annoying for me. That's why we [Formula 1] have lost the Nürburgring."