Ethics body still has work to do

Largely anonymous, lacking police powers and with its independence sometimes questioned, FIFA's ethics committee has often struggled to be taken seriously in the fight against corruption in soccer's world body.

While US and Swiss authorities have grabbed the headlines with dawn raids on a luxury Zurich hotel and the indictment of 27 soccer officials, FIFA's own watchdog has had to fend off criticism that it is a lame duck.

But, over the past year, the committee has flashed its teeth, culminating in Monday's decision to hand eight-year bans to both FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini.