Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/628647
maltatoday, Wednesday, 20 January 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY football Michel Platini and Sepp blatter will be paid by UEfa and fIfa despite ban Michel Platini and sepp Blatter are still receiving salary by ueFa and FIFa, despite having been banned from football-related activity for eight years, it has been revealed Michel Platini will be paid his salary by UeFA "until further no- tice" despite having been banned from football-related activity for eight years, the european gov- erning body has revealed. The confirmation comes af- ter it was revealed that outgo- ing FiFA president Sepp Blatter, who has also been banned, will receive his FiFA salary until the election of his successor on Feb- ruary 26. UeFA said it would not disclose suspended president Platini's salary, nor that of general secre- tary Gianni infantino. infantino is running for the FiFA presi- dency with a manifesto that in- cludes annual disclosure of the pay of the FiFA president, secre- tary-general and FiFA members. A UeFA spokesman said it will look to adopt the same measures on transparency in the future. Platini and Blatter were banned for eight years last month by FiFA's ethics committee over a £1.3million payment made to the Frenchman in 2011 - he and Blatter said it was to settle an oral agreement made nearly 13 years previously when he worked as FiFA's technical advisor. They have appealed against the bans to FiFA's appeals commit- tee and if that is unsuccessful both are expected to go to the court of Arbitration for Sport. Platini's salary is likely to be paid until the full appeals proc- ess is completed. UeFA said it would only dis- close the overall entitlements paid to the 16 UeFA executive committee members - 3.5million euros (£2.68m) in 2013/14, which works out at 217,000 euros (£167,000) per head. Members also receive a daily allowance of 300 euros (£231) when on UeFA duty. in terms of future publication of UeFA executives' salaries, UeFA chief of communications Pedro Pinto said: "We will of course discuss all these matters as well as all other FiFA reforms in the UeFA exco and with our associations in a future congress with a view of adopting these proposals for us as well. "But we can of course not make these figures public without fol- lowing a proper and due process. This is also part of compliance and good governance." infantino's manifesto states: "As a further means of transpar- ency and accountability, the re- muneration and benefits of the FiFA president, FiFA council members, committee members and the secretary general/ceO of the FiFA administration shall be disclosed publicly and on an annual basis. "This is as much a 'cultural' change as an 'organisational' change and is another key ele- ment in helping to build a mod- ern and open FiFA going for- ward." Blatter was suspended for 90 days by FiFA on Oct 8 and then banned from the game for eight years last month for ethics viola- tions over a $2 million payment FiFA made to european soccer boss Michel Platini with Blatter's approval in 2011. But Blatter, a Swiss national who has been president of FiFA since 1998, will continue to be paid until a new president is elected on Feb 26, the spokesman Andreas Bantel said. That would mean Blatter would have been paid for nearly five months dur- ing which time he was unable to carry out his duties, and a period in which FiFA has appointed an acting president, African soccer head issa hayatou. The compensation sub-com- mittee of FiFA's Audit and com- pliance committee recently ruled that it could stop Blatter's bonuses but not, according to his contract, his salary. "Until the election of a new president on February 26, Mr Blatter is the elected president and therefore - according to his contract - is entitled to receive his remuneration," Bantel said. Blatter's U.S. law yer and his Switzerland-based spokes- man could not be immediately reached for comment. FiFA is facing the worst corrup- tion crisis in it history as a total of 41 individuals and entities, including many former FiFA of- ficials, have been charged with corruption-related offences in the United States. The U.S. in- vestigation is far from over and FiFA also faces a parallel Swiss probe. Blatter's bonuses have been stopped because he was not car- rying out his duties of supervis- ing the organization, including its general secretary. Only last week, FiFA an- nounced that Jerome Valcke was fired from his position as general secretary. it gave no reason but an investigation had followed al- legations of corruption related to World cup ticket sales. "The duty of supervision is list- ed explicitly in the target agree- ments for the payment of bonus- es. The compensation committee has therefore decided, at its last meeting, not to make any further bonus payments to Mr Blatter," said Bantel. The size of Blatter's compen- sation from FiFA has remained secret although reforms to be voted on at the organization's February congress call for the disclosure of individual com- pensation for the president and top executives. it is also unclear what hayatou is getting paid to be acting presi- dent. FiFA's finances may have taken a blow in the past year because of the costs and distractions of the corruption scandal. According to a report from the UK's Press Association late last year, the or- ganization suffered its first loss last year since 2001. Bantel declined to discuss what proportion of Blatter's payments came from his bonuses. The FiFA ethics committee said the payment to Platini, made at a time when Blatter was seek- ing re-election, lacked transpar- ency and presented conf licts of interest, though both men de- nied any wrongdoing. Both Blatter and Platini have said they will appeal against their bans. Better times: Michel Platini (left) and Sepp Blatter