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Blatter fights ban amid FIFA turmoil

Zurich - FIFA president Sepp Blatter appealed against the 90 day ban that forced him out of office, a report said Friday as world football's sleaze-tainted governing body headed into months of turmoil over how to find a new leader.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) became the latest regional body to demand an emergency meeting of the FIFA executive after the suspension of Blatter, UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke.

The New York Times reported that the 79-year-old Blatter had complained that he only found out about his suspension after it was made public.

Blatter's lawyers demanded a full hearing to argue his case and also asked to see the case file used by the FIFA ethics committee in deciding the suspension, the Times said.

Platini also plans to appeal against his 90 day suspension. Platini is a leading candidate in FIFA's presidential election in February, alongside South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-Joon who was banned from football activities for six years in the ethics committee purge.

Chung, a former FIFA vice president, has also vowed to use "all legal means" to fight his ban.

Blatter, who has led FIFA since 1998, was provisionally banned by the body's ethics watchdog as Swiss prosecutors investigate him for criminal mismanagement.

Platini was named in the Swiss inquiry over a two million dollar payment he received from FIFA.

The crisis at FIFA has been building since May, when US authorities announced charges against 14 officials and sports marketing executives over bribery allegations amounting to more than $150 million.

Asia's powerful football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa wrote to acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou calling for an emergency meeting of the body's executive committee.

"These are exceptional circumstances and that is why we need the meeting. Only together will we overcome these difficult times," Khalifa said, according to a statement from the AFC.

The German and English federations have made similar calls. A FIFA spokeswoman told AFP the matter would be discussed by Hayatou and other senior committee members next week.

But the decision rests with the acting president, who is currently in Cameroon, the spokeswoman said.

Blatter, a 40-year veteran of FIFA, is still in Zurich, home of the organisation's headquarters, a source close to him told AFP.

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