Platini takes appeal against FIFA ban to sports tribunal

Suspended Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Michel Platini has submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) an appeal against the six-year suspension imposed by FIFA for alleged corruption, seeking to annul the ban.

The CAS has confirmed receiving Frenchman Platini's appeal, which seeks to annul the decisions taken by the Ethics Committee of FIFA, confirmed on February 24 by the Appeals Committee of that body, reports Efe.

"In appealing to the CAS, Michel Platini seeks to annul the decisions taken by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee and by the FIFA appeal committee which led to him being declared ineligible to take part in football-related activity at national and international level for six years. A CAS arbitration procedure is in progress," the CAS statement said.

The CAS has already started arbitration proceedings.

First the two sides will exchange their arguments in writing and a panel of three arbitrators, after choosing a date for the hearing, will later issue a formal decision.

The decision to punish Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was based on the payment of 1.84 million euros ($2 million) which FIFA made to Platini in February 2011, authorised by Blatter, which "had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on August 25, 1999".

Platini had been viewed as the obvious successor to Blatter as FIFA president before his suspension.

Gianni Infantino, UEFA's general secretary at the time, became a candidate in his stead, and won last week's vote in Zurich to become FIFA's new leader.