Sepp Blatter was banned from world football for eight years yesterday, completing his downfall after 17 years at the pinnacle of the sport.

国际足联(Fifa)主席塞普布拉特(Sepp Blatter)昨日被裁定8年内禁止参加任何形式的足球活动，他在执掌足球界17年后落马。

Fifa’s ethics committee said it could not conclusively prove that Mr Blatter was corrupt but banned him for unethical behaviour, a failure to respect “all the applicable laws”, and for abusing his position as Fifa president.

国际足联道德委员会表示，该委员会无法最终证明布拉特腐败，但因不道德行为、不尊重“所有适用法律”以及滥用国际足联主席这一职务对他实行禁令。

Michel Platini, the head of football in Europe, saw his hopes of succeeding Mr Blatter at Fifa dashed by his own eight-year ban.

欧洲足联主席米歇尔渠拉蒂尼(Michel Platini)也被“禁足”8年，这令其接替布拉特出任国际足联主席的愿望泡汤。

The two men were banned after a Sfr2m payment from Fifa to Mr Platini in February 2011 came to light. While both men said the payment was for work carried out by Mr Platini for Fifa between 1998 and 2002, there was no contract and no record of the payment in Fifa’s accounts.

在两人被“禁足”之前，国际足联在2011年2月向普拉蒂尼支付200万瑞士法郎一事被曝光。尽管两人都表示，这笔付款是为普拉蒂尼在1998年至2002年为国际足联开展工作所支付的报酬，但在国际足联的账目中没有任何有关这笔付款的合同和记录。

Mr Blatter, who will turn 80 in March, has robustly denied any wrongdoing and challenged the power of the ethics committee to enforce a ban, insisting only Fifa’s congress could elect to remove him.

明年3月将满80岁的布拉特一直坚决否认自己有不当行为，并挑战国际足联道德委员会执行禁令的权力，坚称只有国际足联大会才能通过投票解除他的职务。