TheCable

Issa Hayatou takes over temporarily as FIFA president following the suspension of Sepp Blatter by FIFA’s ethic committee.

Blatter was relieved of all his duties as FIFA president following the decision of the independent chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee to provisionally ban him from all football activities on a national and international level.

And as mandated by article 32 (6) of the FIFA statutes, Hayatou, as the longest-serving vice-president on FIFA’s executive committee, will serve as acting president.

A new election to choose a successor will take place in February.

The UEFA president, Michel Platini, who was the favourite to succeed Blatter until he too became embroiled in corruption allegations, has been handed an identical sanction, ending his FIFA presidential ambitions.

The ethics committee also issued a provisional 90-day ban for FIFA’s secretary general, Jerome Valcke.

All operational business matters will be overseen by Markus Kattner, acting secretary general.

Blatter is technically free to return in January before the extraordinary congress he has called on February 26 to decide his successor.