UEFA will not replace Platini during appeals process

UEFA said Friday that it will not hold an election to replace its banned president Michel Platini until the Frenchman's appeals have been exhausted.

"There will be no presidential election scheduled until the sports justice appeals bodies, including potentially the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), have taken a decision regarding Michel Platini's suspension," a UEFA executive committee statement said.

Platini has been banned from all football activities for eight years by FIFA judges over an ethics violation.

Sepp Blatter, FIFA's disgraced president, was hit with the same ban in the decision released in December by FIFA's in-house court.

Following a UEFA executive committee meeting, Europe's top football brass reiterated its hope that Platini would be exonerated.

"We hope his name is cleared and that he can return to the European football family as quickly as possible," the statement said.

Platini and Blatter have been sanctioned over a 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euros) payment that Blatter authorised for Platini in 2011 for work done a decade earlier.

Platini has said he would appeal his punishment at the Lausanne-based CAS.
Source :AFP