We back Platini unless he is found guilty says FA

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) – The English FA maintained their support for Michel Platini to become the next president of FIFA on Thursday with chairman Greg Dyke saying they would only withdraw it if he was found guilty of corruption.

Dyke was speaking after FIFA’s Ethics Committee suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Platini, the two most powerful men in world football, from any involvement in the sport for 90 days while investigations continue.

Platini immediately began a rigorous defence of his position, backed by the UEFA executive committee who said it had no intention of replacing him now.

Meanwhile Dyke told ITN in an interview: “We were supporting him to be the next president of FIFA because we think he has done a very good job as the president of UEFA.

“But if in the end the evidence shows — and he is quite adamant he is not guilty — but if the evidence shows he has been involved in corrupt practices then clearly we won’t support him.

“There is an Ethics Committee and the Ethics Committee has suspended  both Platini and Blatter, Blatter for more things than Platini.

“Platini has said ‘I didn’t do this, it is not fair,’ but you know everyone says it’s not fair. There is an Ethics Committee — let them do their investigations and make their conclusions.”

Dyke was far more critical of Blatter and said sooner or later the 79-year-old FIFA president, who has worked at FIFA since 1975, the year after its former disgraced president Joao Havelange came to power, would be found out.

“I think it was inevitable that Sepp Blatter would be suspended over something. But it’s a sad day for football when corruption dominates the headlines yet again.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who will be quite pleased to see this as the final demise of Sepp Blatter although he claims he is innocent. I think this is all done and dusted.”

Dyke added: “If you look, FIFA it has been a corrupted organisation for 40 years, that’s why it is going to be so difficult to reform it, you need a comprehensive reform programme and people from outside it to come in and make sure it happens.”

The Ethics Committee did not detail specific allegations against either man. But Swiss authorities said last month they had launched a criminal investigation into Blatter, partly involving a “disloyal payment” of two million Swiss francs ($2.07 million) to Platini, at FIFA’s expense, in 2011.

(Editing by Rex Gowar)