FIFA's ethics watchdog on Thursday suspended the two most powerful men in soccer, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, for 90 days in a sensational new blow to the sport's scandal-tainted governing body.

While it said the bans were "provisional", the action almost certainly signals the end of the reign of FIFA president Blatter and deals a major blow to UEFA leader Platini's hopes of taking over.

On another chaotic day for soccer, FIFA's independent ethics committee also banned South Korean tycoon, Chung Mong-joon, also a candidate for the FIFA presidency, for six years.