PARIS (AP) — UEFA President Michel Platini says he will appeal his 8-year ban from football at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In statement, Platini describes the FIFA ethics commission’s procedure against him as a “true mockery.” He said it had been “orchestrated… by governing bodies that I know well” to tarnish him.
Platini, a FIFA vice president, said his fate had been sealed before a commission hearing on Dec. 18 and that the decision was “just a pathetic manoeuver to hide a true will of taking me out of the football world.”
Along with an appeal to CAS, Platini said Monday he will also file a lawsuit in a civil court to seek damages for what he had endured since the procedure started.
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The Frenchman said his “behavior has always been faultless and I’m at peace with my own conscience.”