Ex-FIFA president was forced to resign and banned from football for 12 years

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter remains banned from the sport as his successor Gianni Infantino comes under pressure

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is still serving his ban from all football-related activities. The 90-year-old received two suspensions totalling more than 12 years, keeping him out of the sport until June 2028.

In more recent times, Blatter’s successor Gianni Infantino has faced backlash after plans to sell stakes in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors were revealed. The English Football Association is reportedly set to follow the Welsh FA in withdrawing support for Infantino’s re-election.

European governing body UEFA recently said in a statement: "The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.”

While Infantino faces an uncertain future at FIFA, it is not the first time that the head of football’s world governing body has caused controversy. Blatter became head of FIFA in 1998 and remained in the role before being forced to resign in June 2015 after coming under investigation by the USA as part of a corruption inquiry.

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During a press conference, Blatter said: "My mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody." He was later given an eight-year ban from football in December 2015, alongside UEFA president Michel Platini, which was ultimately reduced to six years.

The suspension related to alleged ethics breaches after Blatter made a £1.3million payment to Platini in 2011. Both parties argued the money was part of a verbal agreement for the latter’s work as a technical adviser between 1998 and 2002.

Both men, who always denied wrongdoing, were subsequently cleared of corruption charges in Swiss courts in 2025 in relation to the payment.

However that came some time after Blatter had already announced his plan to step away from FIFA and allow the governing body to find his replacement, with Infantino officially becoming his successor in February 2016.

Blatter received a further suspension in March 2021. He was banned from the sport for another six years and eight months, upon the end of his initial suspension in October 2021, keeping him out of football until June 2028.

It was imposed following multiple breaches of FIFA's ethics code. The same length of suspension was also imposed on FIFA's former secretary general, Jerome Valcke.

The governing body found that Blatter received "an undue economic benefit" of 23m Swiss Francs (£18m) between 2010 and 2014.

A Fifa statement said: "The investigations into Messrs Blatter and Valcke covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to Fifa competitions that were paid to top Fifa management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts, as well as reimbursement by Fifa of private legal costs in the case of Mr Valcke."

The investigation also found that Blatter, Valcke, former Argentina football federation president Julio Grondona and ex-Fifa finance director Markus Kattner had “set up a scheme through which they were allowing themselves to obtain extraordinary benefits with a minimum of effort".

The statement added: "This vicious circle saw three of them (Blatter, Grondona and Valcke) signing the amendment contracts of the others and approving the respective extraordinary bonuses, while the fourth (Kattner) was in charge of implementing the payment of such bonuses (as well as of keeping the matter ‘off the books’, by not reflecting the bonuses in the Fifa financial statements and not reporting them to the Fifa auditors)."

Blatter had begun working at FIFA as technical director in 1975, becoming general secretary in 1981. He was elected as FIFA president in 1998 and retained his position in four subsequent elections before resigning in 2015.

The 2021 FIFA Ethics Committee ruling said: “Mr Blatter held the highest position in football as FIFA president and, as such, had a tremendous responsibility to serve the football community as a role model. By his conduct, the integrity and objectivity of FIFA have therefore been exceedingly violated. FIFA’s reputation has doubtlessly incurred serious and long-lasting damage.”

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