"The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Mr Joseph S. Blatter, former FIFA President, and Mr Jérôme Valcke, former FIFA Secretary General, guilty of various violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE)," FIFA said in a release.

"The investigations into Messrs Blatter and Valcke covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to FIFA competitions that were paid to top FIFA management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts, as well as reimbursement by FIFA of private legal costs in the case of Mr Valcke."

Consequently, Blatter and Valcke have both been sanctioned with bans from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for a period of six years and eight months.

In addition, fines to the amount of CHF 1,000,000 have been imposed on both Blatter and Valcke.

As the previous bans from taking part in all football-related activity imposed on Blatter and Valcke by the independent Ethics Committee in 2015 and 2016 have not yet been purged, the bans notified today will only come into force upon the expiry of the previous bans (i.e. on 8 October 2021 and 8 October 2025, respectively).