Lawyers say FIFA’s Blatter has not been notified of any ethics action

(Reuters) – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has not been notified of any action taken by the ethics committee of world football’s governing body, despite a report on Wednesday that he could soon be suspended, lawyers for Blatter said in a statement.

A close friend and former adviser to Blatter said on Wednesday that world football’s chief faces an imminent 90-day suspension if FIFA’s ethics judge supports a prosecutor’s recommendation. A decision was expected by Friday.

In response to the report by Reuters and others, Blatter’s lawyers Lorenz Erni and Richard Cullen said they “would expect that the ethics committee would want to hear from the president and his counsel, and conduct a thorough review of the evidence, before making any recommendation to take disciplinary action.”

(Reporting by David Ingram in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby)