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FIFA has cast Sepp Blatter and a pair of his former right-hand men out of the house he helped build.

FIFA suspended Blatter, its president, Michel Platini, a vice president, and Jerome Valcke, its secretary general, from all soccer activities for 90 days on Thursday, according to its website. The decision of FIFA's Ethics Committee comes in the aftermath of Switzerland's Attorney General's opening of a criminal investigation into alleged activities of its embattled longtime president.

"The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee chaired by Hans Joachim Eckert has provisionally banned FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, UEFA President and FIFA Vice-President Michel Platini, and FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke (who has already been put on leave by his employer FIFA) for a duration of 90 days. The duration of the bans may be extended for an additional period not exceeding 45 days."

"Joseph S. Blatter, for the duration of the 90-day ban, is not allowed to represent FIFA in any capacity, act on the organisation's behalf, or communicate to media or other stakeholders as a FIFA representative."

Blatter had hoped to remain at the helm of FIFA until its congress elects a new president on Feb. 26, but the suspension effectively ends his 17-plus-year reign and 40-plus years of involvement with world soccer's governing body.

Richard Cullen, Blatter's lawyer, blasted the Ethics Committee's decision to suspend his client without due process.

"The attorney general in Switzerland ... opened an investigation but brought no charge against the president," Cullen said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "In fact, the prosecutors will be obliged by law to dismiss the case if their investigation, barely two weeks old, does not establish sufficient evidence.

"President Blatter looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence that will demonstrate that he did not engage in any misconduct, criminal or otherwise."

FIFA also banned former vice president and current presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon for six years for violating rules during the bidding process to award the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

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Thumbnail photo via Walter Bieri/Keystone/The Associated Press