Banned Valcke gets October CAS appeal date

Sepp Blatter’s former righthand man was suspended in September 2015 over the 2014 World Cup tickets scam and was sentenced by FIFA’s ethics committee in February 2016 to a 12-year ban from football.

The ban was reduced to ten years on appeal before Valcke, claiming innocence, appealed to CAS.

“The hearing has been set for October 11, it’s too soon to know if he will actually appear in person however,” a CAS spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

Once disgraced FIFA president Blatter’s chief lieutenant, Valcke was sacked by FIFA over black market World Cup ticket sales and suspect television deals.

The 56-year-old, who has resettled in Barcelona where he and his wife set up an events management firm, is also the target of a Swiss criminal investigation into the resale of World Cup tickets.

Blatter was banned for six years on charges relating to a two million Swiss francs (1.8 million Euros) payment to the UEFA chief Michel Platini.

FIFA in September launched a fresh investigation into conflict of interest and corruption against Blatter, Valcke and ex FIFA financial director Markus Kattner.

FIFA believe the three men may have shared around 75 million euros in pay rises in a coordinated effort at self enrichment, which the three deny.