Michel Platini has lost his appeal at the European Court of Human Rights against his four-year ban from football with the court holding that the ex-UEFA boss’ ban “was justified”.

The court announced on Thursday that a seven-member panel had upheld FIFA’s 2015 decision to ban Platini and maintained his human rights had not been violated.

“The court found in particular that, having regard to the seriousness of the misconduct, the senior position held by Mr Platini in football’s governing bodies and the need to restore the reputation of the sport and of FIFA, the sanction did not appear excessive or arbitrary,” the court said in a statement.

Platini was banned from football for eight years by the world football’s governing body along with former FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Both men denied wrongdoing.

The ban was over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.10 million) made to the Frenchman by FIFA in 2011 with Blatter’s approval for work done a decade earlier.

Platini’s ban was reduced to four years on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).