FIFA corruption investigators will demand an extension to the eight-year bans ordered against world football leaders Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini last month, a spokesman said yesterday.
The anti-corruption investigators had originally sought a life ban against the two most powerful men in football over a two million Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euro) payment that Blatter authorized for Platini. “The investigatory chamber intends to appeal against the decision for Mr Blatter and Mr Platini at the FIFA appeal committee,” FIFA ethics committee spokesman Andreas Bantel told AFP.
Blatter and Platini were suspended from all football activity for eight years by a FIFA tribunal on December 21. The ethics judges rejected corruption charges but said the pair had abused their positions in making the payment.
Both have denied any wrongdoing and vowed appeals to FIFA as well as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss courts if necessary. Platini lodged his appeal at FIFA on Monday, his entourage said.
Blatter, who has led FIFA for 17 years, said the payment to Platini, the president of Europe’s governing body UEFA, was for consultancy work carried out between 1999 and 2002.
They have said there was only an oral contract for the accord but insisted it is legal. Blatter, 79, was to stand down at a FIFA congress on February 26 when a special election is to be held. But the suspension has devastated 60-year-old Platini’s hopes of becoming FIFA leader. The Frenchman announced last week that he was withdrawing from the FIFA race to concentrate on clearing his name. FIFA appeals committee rarely reduces sanctions imposed by the governing body’s ethics or disciplinary panels.
 
Champagne points finger as FIFA TV debate axed
A televised debate between the five hopefuls for the FIFA presidency has been cancelled because three contenders refused to take part, French candidate Jerome Champagne said. “Very disappointed that ESPN had to cancel the proposed live TV debate between FIFA presidential candidates planned on 29 Jan in London,” Champagne wrote on his official Twitter account. “Myself and Mr. Ali Al-Hussein had accepted while the 3 others refused! No additional comment needed!”
The three other candidates cited by Champagne are UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, South African tycoon Tokyo Sexwale and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. A spokesman from American broadcaster ESPN confirmed that the debate had been cancelled.
“We invited all five candidates to take part in a debate and made every effort to explore logistical options with them,” he said. “Ultimately, we did not gain the commitments needed to deliver a program that would meet our standards.”
Prince Ali was “disappointed” to learn that the debate had been cancelled, a spokesman from his campaign told AFP. A spokesman from Infantino’s campaign told AFP that the Swiss had been “happy in principle” to take part in the debate.
Champagne, a former FIFA official, former FIFA vice-president Prince Ali and the three other candidates have also been invited to take part in a separate debate at the European Parliament in Brussels on January 27. The FIFA presidential election, when a successor to the Sepp Blatter will be voted in at the head of world football’s governing body, will take place in Zurich on February 26.

FIFA museum to open on February 28
The multi-million dollar FIFA museum, the project of fallen world football chief Blatter, will open its doors on February 28 in Zurich, two days after the election of his successor, FIFA announced.
Over 140 million Swiss francs ($140 million/128 million euro) has been invested over the past three years in the museum dedicated to the world’s most popular sport.
“We couldn’t ignore the turbulences, it was not easy. But we had to focus on our mission, to build a museum and a team,” said managing director Stefan Jost of the work which continued against the backdrop of the current scandal engulfing the sport’s governing body.
 “It’s not a museum about personalities, it’s about what football gives to people around the world,” added Jost of the project which was the brainchild of Blatter, who has headed FIFA since 1998. “We don’t know if the new president will participate in the inauguration,” said Jost, adding that the interim secretary general Markus Kattner would be present.
In the centre of Zurich, and covering 3000 m2 on three levels, the museum will exhibit objects retracing the history of football, with a library including 5000 works. “We started with just two objects in our collection, namely the original World Cup trophy and a jersey from the Italian world champion team of 1938,” explained artistic director David Ausseil.
“The funds were then supplemented with donations, loans or acquisitions in auctions.”
It is hoped that the museum will attract 250,000 visitors per year, comparable with the Olympic museum in Lausanne, which drew 300,000 in 2015.