Sepp Blatter on the verge of Fifa suspension

Embattled Fifa president, Sepp Blatter is on the cusp of a provisional 90-day suspension from world football's governing body. The move was recommended by the organisation's ethics committee.

Fifa's ethics committee had been convening in Zurich since Monday (5 October) after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against the organisation's chief last month on suspicion of signing a contract "unfavourable to Fifa" and making a "disloyal payment" of 2m Swiss Francs (£1.3m) to Uefa President Michel Platini.

The verdict on suspension is pending further investigations by the authorities as no negative finding has been made against Blatter, according to Klaus Stoehlker, who has advised the former in the past. "What we know is that president Blatter was told he could be suspended for 90 days. The ethics committee has not taken any key decisions, they are waiting for further investigations. There is no guilt impugned," Stoehlker told the Guardian.

The Swiss national, who has been at the helm of Fifa since 1998, has berated the investigation as "outrageous". Platini - strongly touted to succeed Blatter - has denied any wrongdoing and a decision on whether to suspend Platini has not been made. A judgement on the pair will be made by German ethics judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert.

The payment to Platini was supposedly made "for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002", and the Uefa boss said the payment "relates to work which I carried out under a contract" and that he "was pleased to have been able to clarify all matters".

On 7 October, Blatter told a German magazine that he was being "condemned without there being any evidence of wrongdoing". Speaking to Bunte, he said: "The situation is not pleasant. I am being condemned without there being any evidence for wrongdoing on my part," he added. "That is really outrageous."

Blatter has also defended his decision to stay on as Fifa chief until 26 February 2016, amid a barrage of corruption allegations. There have been calls from powerful corporate sponsors, including Coca-Cola and McDonald's for him to step down.