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maltatoday, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY football life ban looms for Platini and blatter FIFA ethics investigators said on Tuesday they planned an appeal that could extend eight-year bans on world football body president Joseph "Sepp" Blatter and Euro- pean football boss Michel Platini, raising the possibility of lifelong exclusion. Blatter and Platini were both banned from football last month for ethics violations, leaving the global game leaderless as it seeks to dig itself out from beneath a slew of corruption cases. Both have denied wrongdoing. The two escaped potential life- time bans demanded by the com- mittee's investigatory arm when the panel's adjudicatory cham- ber found no evidence of bribery linked to a 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million) payment FIFA made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval. "We have announced we plan to appeal the 8-year bans against Platini and Blatter," investigatory panel spokesman Andreas Bantel told reporters in Zurich, where FIFA has its headquarters. While Blatter and Platini have said the panel was seeking a life- time ban from the sport, Bantel said he declined to comment on the content of its appeal. Blatter has said he feels "aban- doned" by the global football body and will now focus on clear- ing his name through his own ap- peal. Platini, who was the strong fa- vourite to succeed Blatter until becoming mired in allegations that led to his ban, has also said he will appeal. The crisis gripping the football world began with arrests of a group of FIFA officials at a lux- ury Zurich hotel in May. Since then Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice has frozen around $80 million in assets in 13 bank ac- counts and the United States has charged 41 people and entities in a probe of corruption that spans football bodies around the globe. There is precedent for extend- ing bans on appeal. Vernon Manilal Fernando, a former FIFA executive commit- tee member from Sri Lanka, was banned for eight years by the eth- ics committee in April 2013. The investigatory chamber appealed against this, saying the ban was too short, while Fernando fought the ban that he said was too long. In October 2013 FIFA's Appeal Committee increased the ban to life. This decision was upheld by the Court for Arbitration in Sport in March 2015. Sepp Blatter (left) and Michel Platini Ronnie O'Sullivan wins thriller with Mark Williams to make winning return ROnnIE O'Sullivan completed a 6-5 win over old rival Mark Williams in the first round of the Masters at Alexandra Palace - his most high-profile competi- tive match since losing in the World Championship quarter- finals last April. "It was alright," said O'Sullivan on BBC Sport as he set up a meeting with Mark Selby or Ricky Walden in the last eight on Thursday. "We both missed a lot of balls. Bit lucky to get through really. "I didn't really feel nervous. "I missed a couple of tourna- ments due to problems with my back. Unless I play well and start f lowing a bit, there is no joy in it for me. "Unless you are playing re- ally well, it is difficult to win tournaments. I should have lost that match today really. But I got lucky. Mark will feel disap- pointed about losing it." Five-times world champion O'Sullivan lost to world champi- on Stuart Bingham eight months ago in Sheffield in his last nota- ble outing on television. He has been playing in exhi- bition matches during his time away from competitive action. He lost 5-3 to Stuart Carrington in a qualifier for the German Masters in Wigan last month, and has been appearing in the Championship League at Cron- don Park in Essex to sharpen his match skills. The Masters before a sell-out 1700 crowd at Alexandra Palace and millions watching on televi- sion is a different evironment. It is almost like a home match for O'Sullivan, and he was given a rousing reception by the crowd at the packed north London venue with Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and the artist Damien Hirst among his sup- porters. He led 2-0 before a miscued black set the scene for a com- posed 2000 and 2003 world champion Williams to win four straight frames in leading 4-2. O'Sullivan responded in vintage style as breaks of 104, 60 and 117 helped him move 5-4 clear in a blistering 27-minute burst only to miss the final red in the tenth frame when he seemed set to complete a 6-4 success after both men had contributed runs of 50. Williams was first at the ta- ble in the deciding frame, but could only catapult himself 28-0 clear. A missed plant on a red late in the frame proved pivotal as O'Sullivan produced another 62 break to seal his progress, much to the delight of his fans with Williams left to rue what might have been. Ronnie O'Sullivan Schedule Today Afternoon session John Higgins v Liang Wenbo Evening session Neil Robertson v Marco Fu Tomorrow Quarter-finals (best of 11 frames) Afternoon session (1pm) Ronnie O'Sullivan v Selby/Walden Evening session (7pm) Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins Friday Afternoon session Judd Trump v Robertson/Fu Evening session Stuart Bingham v Higgins/Liang