Court rejects Chung’s bid to have FIFA ban lifted

Former FIFA Vice President Chung Mong-joon said on Wednesday that it will be difficult for him to register as a presidential candidate of the world football governing body after his request to temporarily lift a six-year ban was rejected by a Swiss court.

Chung said the decision from a Zurich District Court is disappointing and also a result of FIFA’s interference. “It’s a disappointing decision ... the Swiss court didn’t seem to consider FIFA’s corrupt state,” he said in a statement. “Recently, there was a media report that judges and prosecutor in Zurich were offered 1990-2006 World Cup final tickets. Considering the criticism that it has relations with FIFA, the Swiss court should have ruled more carefully.”

FIFA said on Tuesday the local court ruled that there was no indication of a defective procedure on the part of its ethics committee in banning the 64-year-old Korean.

Chung has been trying to lift his six-year ban temporarily to run in the Feb. 26 election to replace current FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The former Korea Football Association president was given the six-year ban by FIFA’s Ethics Committee on Oct. 8, which ruled he violated FIFA codes during Korea’s bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The deadline to register as a FIFA candidate is Oct. 26, and the candidate needs endorsements from five national federations. If the ban isn’t temporarily lifted by then, Chung will not be able to enter the race.

Chung claimed FIFA has been intentionally preventing him from registering as a candidate by not sending him the documents in time. The former lawmaker said he needs FIFA’s statement of ruling for his six-year ban so that he can present his case to the court, but he claimed FIFA didn’t send it for two weeks.

“As soon as the ruling statement arrives, I will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to show lack of justification in FIFA’s ban,” he said.

Domenico Scala, chairman of the FIFA Ad-hoc Electoral Committee, said that candidacies for FIFA presidency will not be processed by his committee as long as a ban is valid and in force.

This also affects UEFA President Michel Platini, who has received a 90-day suspension relating to a suspicious payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) from Blatter in 2011.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]