The former head of international soccer’s governing body has filed an appeal to have his six-year suspension from the sport reversed.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was accused of rampant corruption as head of the soccer league and was handed a six-year suspension from the organization. But now Blatter has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking an annulment of the six-year sentence.
According to the press release, both sides will present their written arguments and a three-person panel of arbitrators will convene a hearing on the matter.
FIFA suspended Blatter with full salary in October of 2015 as the organization reviewed the allegations against him. But by December of 2015 the 17-year FIFA leader lost his $3.76 million position when the organization handed down an eight-year ban. Blatter appealed that decision and the ban was lowered to six years in February.
After his initial ban, Blatter insisted he was being used as a “punching ball” and added, “I will fight to the end.”
The former FIFA head had already resigned his position in June after news broke of a $10 million payment made to FIFA officials charged with corruption. But there were many other charges leveled against him in the ensuing years of investigations.
Blatter has continued to maintain that he did nothing wrong.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com