FIFA to decide on crisis meeting by next week

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA’s executive committee is likely to decide next week whether to hold an emergency meeting following the suspension of president Sepp Blatter, a spokesperson said on Friday.

Blatter, due to step down in February, was suspended for 90 days by FIFA’s ethics committee on Thursday along with UEFA president Michel Platini as part of a corruption investigation shaking world soccer’s governing body.

Platini had been the frontrunner to win the election to replace Blatter and his shrinking hopes now depend on whether he can overturn the ban through an appeal process. Both men deny suggestions of an improper payment by the FIFA head to Platini in 2011.

The spokesman said executive committee members would consult with acting president Issa Hayatou as part of standard procedure before deciding whether to hold the meeting.

It was not immediately clear what might be the agenda of such a meeting.

German Football Federation president Wolfgang Niersbach called for an extraordinary meeting after the bans on Thursday and was swiftly backed by Asian soccer chief Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

Both are members of the executive committee, whose next scheduled meeting is in Zurich in December.

According to the FIFA statutes, the president must convene a meeting if it is requested by at least 13 members.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood; editing by Ralph Boulton)