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Reaction to provisional bans on Blatter, Platini

Updated: 2015-10-09 10:26
(Agencies)

ZURICH - A summary of the reaction after FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini, who is also a candidate for the next FIFA presidential election, were provisionally banned for 90 days by FIFA's ethics committee on Thursday:

GERMAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION (DFB) PRESIDENT WOLFGANG NIERSBACH

"The future can only be constructed without the current president, without Sepp Blatter.

"That would be a sign for a new start and would be a mark for everyone that cleanliness was returning to football."

WORLD PLAYERS' UNION FIFPRO

"While inappropriate to comment on individuals under investigation, a pattern has emerged that leaves FIFPro with little or no confidence in the ability of FIFA to reform from within.

"It also casts further doubt on the process regarding the proposed FIFA presidential election on Feb. 26.

"Only a complete governance overhaul involving key stakeholders such as the players and clubs will be sufficient.

"FIFPro insists the players are crucial to add much-needed checks and balances, helping FIFA to rid itself of a culture of impropriety, while elevating football to unprecedented levels of transparency, accountability and ultimately maximising the game's social role and development as both a sport and business."

NEW FIFA NOW, pressure group campaigning for reform within FIFA

"Suspensions and bans - while heading in the right direction - will not fix FIFA. It is still imperative that the underlying governance and cultural issues that operate within FIFA, and that have allowed these serial allegations of financial irregularities to occur over decades, are addressed once and for all."

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH

"They must do two things immediately: they must accelerate and deepen the reform process in order to comply with accountability, transparency and all the principles of good governance."

"They should also be open for a credible external presidential candidate of high integrity, to accomplish the necessary reforms and bring back stability and credibility to FIFA."

ENGLISH FA CHAIRMAN GREG DYKE

"I think it was inevitable that Sepp Blatter would be suspended over something. But it's a sad day for football when corruption dominates the headlines yet again."

"There are a lot of supporters for Sepp Blatter, you go around the world and a lot of countries will say 'Sepp has been very good to us' which is part of the problem of course.

"If you look, FIFA has been a corrupted organisation for 40 years, that's why it is going to be so difficult to reform it, you need a comprehensive reform programme and people from outside it to come in and make sure it happens."

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