I will fight for me and for FIFA – Blatter

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, has confirmed he will appeal against the ban the football governing body placed on him.

Blatter’s personal adviser, Klaus Stoehlker, said earlier that he is prepared to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Blatter has confirmed he will in a press conference, Monday morning.

“We go immediately once again to the (FIFA) appeal committee, we go to Court of Arbitration to Sport, we go to Swiss (court),” he said.

A FIFA ethics committee found Blatter and his UEFA counterpart, Michel Platini, guilty of breaches surround a $2m “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.

The committee, Monday, suspended the duo for eight years from all football-related activities.

Blatter insists he and Platini have done nothing wrong.

“We have the proof that this was not only known by Platini and me and we know the agreement exists. The committee denies this and the 2million Swiss francs which were due and paid to Platini went through the finance committee and through congress and was done in good terms.”

And he still can believe the judgement, it seems.

“This committee has no right to go against the president. I am the president!”

In addition to the ban, Blatter was fined $40,000 while Platini was fined $80,000.

At a hearing, December 18, Blatter and Platini claimed the payment was honouring an agreement made in 1998 for work carried out between 1998 and 2000 when Platini worked as a technical adviser for Blatter.

The payment was not part of Platini’s written contract but the pair insisted it was a verbal agreement, which is legal under Swiss law.

“Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment. His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber”, a statement on FIFA’s website reads..