Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, was suspended Thursday. So, too, was Michel Platini, a vice president of FIFA and the head of UEFA, which runs European soccer. Two other soccer executives were suspended as well. The punishments, particularly Mr. Blatter’s, were seen by many as a watershed moment in the continuing global soccer scandal, and that may well be the case. But, as is typical with FIFA, things are more complex than they seem.
Who suspended Mr. Blatter?
In 2012, FIFA constructed a two-chambered independent ethics committee to oversee the organization’s governance.