Berlin, August 4

Disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has admitted his six-year ban from all football-related activity has taken a toll on his mental health.

In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF to be screened on Thursday night, the 80-year-old Swiss says the ban has left ‘a mark’ on him as he continues the fight to prove his innocence.

“I’ve been marked by it, because of what happened to me, this attack on FIFA shocked me. I suffer to this day because of this blow,” he said in the interview, filmed at his home in the Swiss canton Valais.

Blatter, who underwent treatment for skin cancer last month, has taken the fight to clear his name to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the ban, imposed on him and ex-UEFA president Michel Platini in December 2015 by FIFA’s Ethics Committee, for a dubious payment of 1.8m euros ($2m).

Blatter has always protested his innocence and is convinced his name will be cleared by CAS when his hearing takes place on August 25 in Lausanne, Switzerland. “I am not corrupt!” insisted Blatter.