FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been provisionally suspended by the organisation’s ethics committee.
The suspension has to be confirmed by German Judge Hans Joachim Eckhert, chairman of the Ethics Committee’s adjudicatory chamber.
The ethics committee met this week after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Mr Blatter over a £1.3m payment to UEFA President Michel Platini.
Klaus Stoehlker, who has advised Mr Blatter in the past, says the committee made the ruling pending further investigations by the authorities.
He described it as a “pending” verdict, and said no negative finding had been made against the head of world football’s governing body.
The announcement comes just hours after Mr Blatter criticised the criminal investigation against him in Switzerland, describing it as “outrageous”.
He also defended his decision to remain as head of the football organising body and not step down immediately, as worldwide sponsors have urged. -Skysports.