Blatter is asked what advice he has for whoever succeeds him at the forthcoming elections (assuming they want his advice, which, given what's happened today, is a major assumption).

"You here present know me," Blatter says to the room.

"I pass now more than 40 years. The average working time of a person should not be more than 40 years.

"What was wrong with me is at the end of the World Cup in Brazil I should have stopped. I didn't do that because at that time Michel Platini had already decided to be a candidate president and five other confederations said to me 'stay as president'."

Blatter then seems to remember the question he was asked, saying: "But I cannot express qualities or non-qualities to my successor. There will be one. We still have four in the pipeline.

"But I am forbidden even to go to Fifa I have no access to books or whatever."

Sepp is asked once again about the £1.3m payment to Michel Platini. 

"I didn't question it - how can I question the price of a person? I told him that Fifa could not pay him all the money now, we'll pay you later on. He asked for the payment later on - the debt existed. 

"Secondly, the last time I saw Mr Platini was when we left the Fifa Executive Committee with a police escort. The police put us in one room, then suddenly they separated us. Suddenly they questioned the payment to Monsieur Platini."

You can watch the conference live by clicking 'Live Coverage' above. 

Image source, Getty Images

As ever, BBC Sport's Ben Dirs here with the cutting analysis...

It's certainly beginning to feel that way Ben.

More from Blatter: "Today, first of all of all I was very sad. But not anymore. Now I am fighting.

"When you say that what Mr Blatter and Mr Platini have said is not important that means we are liars. 

Image source, Getty Images

"You cannot condemn someone without valid reason. Now I am suspended and Mr Platini too, but that does not mean it is finished. 

"We have to defend ourselves, I hope Platini feels the same. I believe in God but I also believe in myself. I will fight to restore myself and believe we have the time before the 27 February, and that I will be able to attend the congress at Fifa".

Blatter is asked about the awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups - and begins to make inroads into answering...

But tails back on himself and returns to the point he was made so consistently this morning. 

"I want to talk about betrayal..." 

"Fifa's ethics committee has already said Platini and I would be suspended for a lifetime," adds Blatter.

"Now they come a little bit back. It shows something is wrong with this system. It is why I have to fight.

"I regret I am a punching ball and for my organisation I have served with my heart and conscience for 41 years. Specifically I regret for all the team members working in Fifa.

"Fifa is still working well."

Then, bizarrely, he adds: "I congratulate the club fo Barcelona for winning for he third time the Fifa World Club Cup."

Cheers for that Sepp.

More Blatter: "I am not ashamed. I regret but I am not ashamed.

Image source, Getty Images

"I am ashamed about the committee's decision - and that they don't go to the evidence. I tell you they have no right to go against the president. The president of Fifa can only be relieved of his activities by the Fifa congress. 

"At the next congress, the 27 February, before the election of the new president, even suspended I am president and the president must be first relieved of his duties.

"I am a man of principles. I repeat: Never take money you have not earned, pay your debts. Now they are telling me that I tried to buy through Michel Platini, votes for the 2011 elections. No."

You can watch Blatter's news conference live by clicking 'Live Coverage' above. 

Blatter: "This decision to suspend the Fifa president ... in all countries where human rights exist - in the Olympic Charter and the Charter of the United Nations - before you are sanctioned you have the right to be heard.

"Inside Fifa people couldn't understand why the president is suspended.

"It has created a lot of collateral damage outside of of Fifa. My family were mocked, my daughters and their freinds were mocked, my village was in a crisis."

Image source, Getty Images

More from Blatter: "Can you imagine what has been in the books? The accusations? 

"Mr Platini and myself were asked separately about this since the first day when this happened. It was in a meeting here in July in Zurich. 

"We were separated, we couldn't speak together and we have given the same answer. 

Image source, Getty Images

"But now [they say] it is not relevant, you know what means? That means that we are two liars - he is and I am a liar. This is not correct. 

"So therefore with my lawyer, I will use the sporting justice now to go forward. We go immediately once again to the appeal committee, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, we go also to the Swiss. 

"Under Swiss law to be suspended for eight years you have to have committed something very, very important. The only thing they should have done is to say: 'Yes if this arrangement existed, you should have put it somewhere in the books.'

"I agree to that. But this is administrative and financial proceeding. It is nothing to do with ethics." 

You can watch the news conference live by clicking 'Live Coverage' above.

"You here in this room, you journalists, have followed the history of Fifa and you cannot change the history of Fifa," Blatter continues.

"These allegations I have given a gift to Platini because of this arrangement and contract ... I am suspended eight years but I will fight for me and I will fight for Fifa.

"I am suspended eight years for what?"

Image source, BBC Sport

More from Blatter: "We are in a so-called oral contract or gentleman's agreement. This agreement was made in 1998, in France, just after the World Cup. Where Mr Platini said he would like to work for Fifa, I said it was wonderful, he said he wanted 1 million Swiss francs, I said OK we can pay you part now, part later.

"What astonishes me now about the decision of the Fifa ethics committee is that they deny, they deny the existence of such an agreement. 

Image source, Getty Images

"This was indirectly confirmed by two meetings of the Uefa executive committee - the one in Sweden and the other in Zurich in December 1998. 

"There, people spoke about the agreement and this is written down. They have confirmed this discussion has taken place. They can recollect this discussion. We have therefore the proof that this agreement was known not only by Platini and me. 

"It went through the finance committee, the executive committee, to the Fifa control committee and to congress. It was registered, and it has been done in good terms." 

You can watch Blatter's news conference as it happens by clicking 'live coverage' above. 

"I organised to have this press conference ... specifically for when I knew that there will be a decision by the Ethics Committee," Blatter says.

"Together with a Swiss lawyer we thought that we had convinced the panel about this situation that was created about the payment by Fifa to Michel Platini for an ongoing contract that was never terminated. "

Sepp Blatter - unshaven and with a large plaster on his cheek -  looks a little confused and rambles on slightly, deviating from his speech, talking about his daughter and "a supporter" in the room.

Then he gets back to his written notes and announces: "I am really sorry. I am sorry that I am still a punching ball. I am as president of Fifa this punching ball. And I am sorry for football. I am sorry to Fifa. I have served them for more than 40 years. I am sorry for 400-plus team members working in Fifa. I'm sorry.

"But I'm also sorry abut me. How I am treated in this world of humanity."

Image source, AP

"To say that today is a good day for me or for Fifa, this would be totally wrong. 

"Thank you for coming. The last time we had a lot of audience here in the same room was for to present the candidates of the World Cup in 2010. Here that day was Mr Nelson Mandela. He was speaking about humanity.

"Humanity is where we are in our world. In our world of football, and humanity has no other signification than respecting each other. 

"Human beings are to be respected and I say that because celebrating humanity through football was the slogan of the World Cup 2010, and was created by this great humanist, Mr Mandela. 

"I say that here because I just received today's information, a little bit later than you...

Sepp is here. 

It's started already...

Image source, BBC Sport