Fifa has opened ethics proceedings against its president, Sepp Blatter. The action follows a charge by Mohamed Bin Hammam, his rival in next week's presidency election, that Blatter knew about alleged cash payments. Bin Hammam and vice-president Jack Warner will also be at Sunday's hearing to answer charges of bribery. Blatter issued a statement saying: "I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened against me. The facts will speak for themselves." The ethics committee are bound by their rules to investigate any complaint by an executive committee member under article 16 of the ethics code. Bin Hammam and Warner face allegations from executive committee member Chuck Blazer that they offered bribes at a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union on 10 and 11 May. A file of evidence claims bundles of cash of up to $40,000 were handed over to members of the CFU at the meeting in Trinidad. In turn, Bin Hammam is effectively claiming Blatter was aware of some wrongdoing but did not report it, in itself a breach of the code. The committee, chaired by Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb, will also be under pressure to decide whether Blatter will face any charges or not. The move to place Blatter, one of the most powerful men in football, under investigtion is the latest twist in an increasingly bitter fight for the presidency of the sport's global governing body. And it also follows weeks of damaging headlines and allegations in the wake of the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Blatter has been president of Fifa since 1998. Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body, Uefa, who is tipped to run for the Fifa presidency in four years' time, described the latest development as "a very interesting moment". He said there would only be a postponement of Wednesday's presidential elections if three-quarters of Fifa's general assembly agreed. Platini, whose organisation have thrown their weight behind Blatter's bid for re-election, described himself as "incorruptible". "You know the people who are corrupt, they know who can be corruptible," he said. "They know I am incorruptible." He also argued that corruption was an issue not only in football, but the whole of society. "Football is the most beautiful and popular game in the world and we have to resolve these problems," he said. "[But] it is not only a fight in football. Football is a mirror for the society and what happens in football can arrive in every part of the society." Source: BBC