Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have been banned from all footballing activity for eight years following an investigation by FIFA's ethics committee.
FIFA president Blatter, 79, and his UEFA counterpart Platini, 60, were found guilty over a £1.3m "disloyal payment" Blatter made to Platini in 2011, just weeks before his re-election for a fourth term as the head of the world's football governing body.
The pair had claimed that the payment was to honour a "gentleman's agreement" they had made in 1998 for consultancy work undertaken by Platini between 1998 and 2002.
Delivering its verdict today, FIFA said that the agreement had "no legal basis" and that their explanation for the payment was "not convincing". It said that Blatter's behaviour did not demonstrate a "commitment to an ethical attitude", while Platini was accused of failing to act with "complete credibility and integrity".
In addition to the eight-year bans, which effectively ends Blatter's involvement in the sport, Blatter and Platini received fines of £33,700 and £54,000 respectively.
A spokesman for Blatter said that the German planned to appeal the decision and is prepared to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Blatter had already promised to step down as FIFA president, with an election to find his replacement planned for the end of February.
Neil Wilkes
