FIFA Appeal Committee rejects appeals lodged by Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini

The FIFA Appeal Committee rejected the appeals lodged by the governing body's disgraced president, Sepp Blatter, and UEFA president Michel Platini on Wednesday, casting another blow to the latter's hopes of joining the race for the FIFA presidency.

FIFA's Ethics Committee provisionally suspended the pair in October, as well as secretary general Jerome Valcke, for 90 days from all football activities after the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, suspecting him of making a "disloyal payment" valued at CHF 2 Mio. (£1.35 million, €2 million) to Platini at the expense of FIFA in February 2011.

Blatter insists that the payment was based on a "gentleman's agreement" as there is reportedly no written contract for the transaction.

Related - Blatter: Payment to Platini based on 'gentleman's agreement'

The FIFA Appeal Committee's decision can be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and, according to Owen Gibson of the Guardian, Blatter is likely to do just that, while Platini has already confirmed that he will do so.

Platini's first procedural appeal against the ban was rejected two days before he was one of seven people whose candidatures for the FIFA presidency were confirmed by the governing body. However, less one week ago, FIFA's Ad-hoc Electoral Committee admitted and declared five candidates eligible to stand for the governing body's presidency. Platini, though, was absent from the list, as his integrity check - a mandatory, two-step process for all candidates - will apparently not be carried out until his disciplinary case is completed.