Banned Blatter faces media scrum

"The decision is no surprise to me," he said in a statement. "The procedure initiated against me by Fifa's ethics committee is a pure masquerade.  "It has been rigged to tarnish my name by bodies I know well and who for me are bereft of all credibility or legitimacy."  In the meantime, Uefa has issued a statement, revealing it is "extremely disappointed" with the decision.  It added: "Once again, Uefa supports Michel Platini's right to a due process and the opportunity to clear his name."  

• Blatter's actions did not show "commitment to an ethical attitude", and both men were found to be in "a conflict of interest". 
• Platini also failed to act with "complete credibility and integrity" and showed "unawareness of the importance of his duties". 
• The committee said there was "not sufficient evidence" to establish the payment was a bribe, but both men demonstrated an "abusive execution" of their positions. 

Seven Fifa officials were arrested at a Zurich hotel at the end of May.  

And US authorities have charged 39 football officials and sports business executives over more than £134m ($200m) in bribes for football television and marketing deals.  

Swiss prosecutors are also investigating Fifa's management as well as the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. 

There is also pressure from governments and the International Olympic Committee for Fifa to push through major reforms aiming at making governance more transparent and accountable. 

The presidential election is due to take place on 26 February.  

There are currently five candidates to take over:   

• Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa - 50, Bahrain, president of Asian Football Confederation; 
• Tokyo Sexwale - 62, South Africa, politician, businessman and former political prisoner; 
• Prince Ali bin al-Hussein - 39, Jordan, a former Fifa vice-president and 2015 Fifa presidential candidate; 
• Gianni Infantino - 45, Switzerland, Uefa general secretary and a member of Fifa's reform committee; 
• Jerome Champagne - 57, France, a former Fifa assistant general secretary and former French diplomat. 

Voting will take place by secret ballot, with all Fifa's 209 member states having a vote each. 

Sepp Blatter presents the women's World Cup to the United States in 1999  

Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter was born in the alpine town of Visp in 1936. Blatter has been married three times and has one daughter.  

After finishing school, he did his obligatory service in the Swiss army, rising to the rank of colonel.  

He did not play football professionally but worked in the watch industry, then as a sports writer and in sports management, serving at the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation.  

Blatter moved to Fifa as its technical director in 1975, before working as the general secretary from 1981.  

He was elected, to much fanfare in his homeland, as the eighth Fifa president in 1998, succeeding Dr Joao Havelange.  

He has split opinion with his sometimes controversial statements about the game but remains hugely popular with countries in Asia and Africa.  

In 2004, he said female footballers should wear skimpier kits to increase the game's popularity and, following the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, said gay fans going to the Gulf state, where homosexuality is illegal, should "refrain from sexual activity". 

Platini has been boss of European football's governing body since 2007 but rose to fame as one of France's greatest footballers.  

The son of a former professional player, he played for Nancy and St Etienne before joining Italian giants Juventus, with whom he was named European Footballer of the Year on three occasions.  

A midfielder, Platini also made 72 appearances for France, captaining them to victory at the 1984 European Championship and helping them reach the semi-finals of two World Cups, in 1982 and 1986.  

He retired as player at 32, turning to coaching and managed the French national team with mixed results from 1988 to 1992.  

After turning down an offer to coach Spanish giants Real Madrid, he was asked by French president Francois Mitterrand to organise the 1998 World Cup in France and, shortly after, was appointed vice-president of the French Football Federation.  

Since 2002, Platini has been a member of the executive committee of Fifa and was elected president of Uefa in 2007. He was re-elected and also became Fifa vice-president.  

Platini, married with two children, worked as Blatter's technical adviser between 1999 and 2002, but later fell out with his former boss. {jcomments on}