FIFA president Sepp Blatter is set to be handed a 90 day suspension by the world governing body’s ethics committee after Swiss authorizes began a criminal investigation against him on charges of corruptions with regards to various deals he signed in his role as president.

The decision is likely to be formally taken and announced on Thursday by the committee, which has been meeting in Zurich since Monday and which is also expected to take a decision on current UEFA chief Michel Platini, who is also accused of receiving a bribe from Blatter in 2011, a charge which the two of them deny.

"President Blatter has not been notified of any action taken by the FIFA ethics committee. We would expect that the ethics committee would want to hear from the president and his counsel, and conduct a thorough review of the evidence, before making any recommendation to take disciplinary action," Blatter’s lawyers, Erni Brun Forrer and McGuireWoods LLP, said in a statement to the press.

Blatter won the presidential elections at the end of May but soon announced he would step down from the post after new elections were held, as various corruption allegations against FIFA officials arose, with Swiss authorities and the FBI making several arrests earlier this year. Last month, Swiss authorities announced they were investigating Blatter himself for signing a TV rights deal that were sold at unfavourable prices, causing losses to FIFA, and also making a “disloyalty payment” of €2 million (AU $3.15 million) to Platini ahead of the 2011 elections.

Although Platini and Blatter claim it was for work done by the former between 1999 and 2002, the nine year gap between work and payment has raised doubts. Platini was also expected to contest the presidential elections in 2011 but suddenly withdrew, which only makes the suspicion stronger.

Blatter is expected to leave FIFA after an extraordinary congress of FIFA in February 2016, but could be forced to leave earlier. Platini was expected to be one of the leading contenders to replace him, but with allegations against himself now arising, it is unclear whether he will still participate in the elections.

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