Amid reports that he is set to be banned from football for seven years, Sepp Blatter has reportedly written to all FIFA member associations protesting his innocence.
Blatter and Michel Platini are expected to escape lifetime bans for corruption but investigators expect the pair to receive suspensions of at least seven years when their hearings take place this week. The pair will have disciplinary hearings before FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert in Zurich on Thursday.
Blatter’s case will be heard on Thursday with Platini’s following on Friday. A decision is expected to be announced by Monday next week.
Bothmen are likely to contest any ban and take the case all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The outgoing FIFA president is currently serving a 90-day suspension over allegations of a “disloyal” payment made to UEFA chief Michel Platini in 2011.
According to Sky Sports News, Blatter who insists he has done nothing wrong, has outlined his position in letters to all 209 member associations ahead of his hearing.
In the letters the 79-year-old says he plans to confront Eckert and ask him, “Why are you trying to destroy me?”
And Blatter has promised to carry on the fight to clear his name whatever the outcome, saying: “Nothing and nobody can stop me.”
