Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini's bans from football were reduced but not overturned by Fifa's appeal committee Getty

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter has taken his fight to be allowed to participate in football all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after he appealed his six year ban from the sport.

The 80-year-old was banned for eight years in 2015 after being found guilty of unethical conduct relating to a 2m Swiss franc ($2m, £1.38m, €1.77m) payment by Fifa in 2011 to Uefa President Michel Platini. That ban was then reduced by Fifa's appeal committee to six years in February. Platini is also serving a six-year ban and lodged his appeal to CAS last month.

CAS is hoping to deliver its verdict in May 2016, a month before the European Championship in France, Platini's home country, reports the Associated Press. Fifa had provisionally banned Blatter and Platini for 90 days. His appeal comes as world football's governing body acknowledged for the first time to bribery in the hosting contests of the 1998 and 2010 World Cups in France and South Africa respectively.

As a result Fifa is seeking to claim "tens of millions of dollars" in bribe money seized by US federal prosecutors from disgraced executives including Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb.

On Tuesday 15 March, Fifa submitted documents to US authorities in its capacity as a "victimised institution". The 22-page claim was sent to the US Attorney's Office in New York and seeks a big share in restitution from more than $190m forfeited by corrupt officials who earlier pleaded guilty.

In a statement, newly elected Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: "The convicted defendants abused the positions of trust they held at Fifaand other international football organisations and caused serious and lasting damage to Fifa, its member associations and the football community.

"The monies they pocketed belonged to global football and were meant for the development and promotion of the game. FIFA as the world governing body of football wants that money back and we are determined to get it no matter how long it takes."

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