FALLEN FIFA chief Sepp Blatter will appeal against his eight-year ban, his lawyer said Sunday, joining fellow suspended official Michel Platini in a fight to clear his name.

    “We will appeal it, of course,” Blatter’s U.S.-based attorney Richard Cullen confirmed to AFP in an email.

    The confirmation came after FIFA’s ethics tribunal Saturday revealed it had provided Blatter and UEFA president Platini with the reasons for imposing the ban, clearing the way for both men to appeal.

    A lawyer for Platini, who has also been banned for eight years, had earlier confirmed an appeal would be launched.

    In December, FIFA’s ethics tribunal ruled both men had abused their positions over a 2 million Swiss francs (US$2 million) payment made to Platini in 2011 for work carried out between 1999 and 2002.

    Blatter, who has headed FIFA since 1998, was also fined 50,000 Swiss francs while Platini, a FIFA vice president, was fined 80,000 Swiss francs.

    The court insisted there was “no legal basis” for the payment that Blatter authorized for Platini in 2011.

    If that appeal is rejected, the two men can appeal further to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest tribunal in sports. (SD-Agencies)