AFP/Zurich

FIFA’s ethics watchdog yesterday suspended the two most powerful men in football, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, for 90 days in a sensational new blow to the sport’s scandal-tainted governing body.
Secretary-general Jerome Valcke was also suspended for 90 days while South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-Joon, a candidate for the FIFA presidency along with Platini, was banned outright for six years.
While FIFA said the suspensions were “provisional”, the action almost certainly signals the end of the reign of FIFA president Blatter and deals a major blow to UEFA leader Platini’s hopes of taking over.
Issa Hayatou head of the Confederation of African Football, a Blatter ally, was put in charge of the multi-billion dollar body.  
FIFA said Blatter, who has been its president since 1998, had been “relieved of all his duties” during the 90 days.
Blatter is under investigation by Swiss prosecutors for criminal mismanagement.
The four football powerbrokers “are banned from all football activities on a national and international level. The bans come into force immediately”, a statement said.
Lawyers for Blatter said he was “disappointed” the ethics watchdog had failed to follow its own rules by not letting him give evidence.
“President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise,” said a statement by Zurich lawyers Lorenz Erni, Erni Brun Forrer and US-based Richard Cullen.
Blatter and French football legend Platini have faced mounting pressure since Swiss prosecutors started their investigation on September 25.
Platini, who has run UEFA, has been named in the investigation because of a $2mn payment he received in 2011.
The Frenchman has denied any wrongdoing and demanded an inquiry into the circumstances of the investigation against him.
Platini registered his candidacy yesterday for the February 26 vote to find a successor to Blatter. But it will be up to an electoral commission to decide now whether he can stand, officials said.
German Football Federation Wolfgang Niersbach said Blatter should resign definitively and Platini must consider whether he “can maintain” his candidacy for FIFA.  
The suspensions can be renewed for another 45 days when they run out in January, which would take the exclusion until just before the FIFA election to be held on February 26.
Chung, who was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($100,000) would be automatically ruled out of the presidential race.
The scion of the Hyundai family was found to have contravened rules while lobbying for South Korea’s bid for the 2022 World Cup which was awarded to Qatar in a 2010 vote.
Chung has threatened to take legal action over the ban.
FIFA’s crisis has been mounting since May when US authorities issued charges against 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives over more than $150mn in bribes given for broadcasting and marketing contracts.
Seven FIFA officials were detained at a Zurich hotel two days before Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term on May 30.
As the storm grew, Blatter announced that he would stand down, but only when the election is held. Rivals have accused him since of seeking to cling to power.