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 "I will fight on for my rights and present my view of things to
the...chamber with great conviction and a firm belief in justice,"
he told the Swiss newspaper Blick ahead of Thursday's hearing. "I am
suspended but not isolated and not at all mute."
FIFA ethics investigators called in November for sanctions against
Blatter and European (UEFA) soccer chief Michel Platini, both of
whom were suspended from their posts for 90 days on Oct. 8 pending a
full investigation.
FIFA's ethics panel is set to rule on the matter next week.
U.S. prosecutors have charged 41 people and entities in an inquiry
into soccer corruption. Soccer bosses from throughout the Americas
are among the defendants in a case that prosecutors say involves
$200 million in bribes and kickbacks tied to the marketing of major
tournaments and matches.
Blatter is also the subject of a criminal investigation in his
native Switzerland.
The avalanche of corruption allegations prompted Blatter to say in
June he would resign, only days after being re-elected to a fifth
term. Blatter has not been charged with a crime.
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His adviser, Klaus Stoehlker, confirmed Blick's report that Blatter
would write his traditional end-of-year letter to FIFA members, this
time on his own stationery.
"It is the annual letter the president has written for 17 years to
the now 209 members of FIFA," Stoehlker said. "This was always a
letter with strategic thoughts of the president."
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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