Platini Football Ban Reduced To Four Years

          The Frenchman will be resigning as UEFA president after failing to            overturn the ban over a £1.35m payment from Sepp Blatter.

Michel Platini's six-year ban for accepting a disloyal payment of £1.35m from Sepp Blatter in 2011 has been cut to four years on appeal.

His lawyer said he would now resign as UEFA president after failing to overturn the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The court ruled the French football legend was guilty of a conflict of interest for taking the money.

The deal was the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland and was revealed by Swiss federal prosecutors last September.

Disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter

The court said its judges were "not convinced" the payment was legitimate and cited "the absence of any repentance and the impact that this matter has had on FIFA's reputation" as a factor in reaching their decision.

Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter were initially banned from football for eight years by world football's governing body over the payment.

It was reduced in December to six years following an initial appeal.

The reduced four-year ban runs beyond his current UEFA mandate, which expires in March 2019.

The former French star had acknowledged his long, illustrious career in the game would be over if he lost the appeal.

He has been head of European football's governing body since 2007, which also gave him FIFA vice-president status.

The Frenchman was the favourite to replace Mr Blatter in February's FIFA presidential elections and take football's top job, but he pulled out of the race in January.