More from Blatter: "We are in a so-called oral contract or gentleman's agreement. This agreement was made in 1998, in France, just after the World Cup. Where Mr Platini said he would like to work for Fifa, I said it was wonderful, he said he wanted 1 million Swiss francs, I said OK we can pay you part now, part later.

"What astonishes me now about the decision of the Fifa ethics committee is that they deny, they deny the existence of such an agreement.

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"This was indirectly confirmed by two meetings of the Uefa executive committee - the one in Sweden and the other in Zurich in December 1998.

"There, people spoke about the agreement and this is written down. They have confirmed this discussion has taken place. They can recollect this discussion. We have therefore the proof that this agreement was known not only by Platini and me.

"It went through the finance committee, the executive committee, to the Fifa control committee and to congress. It was registered, and it has been done in good terms."

You can watch Blatter's news conference as it happens by clicking 'live coverage' above.