Early Sunday morning, the world learned of former FIFA executives Sepp Blatter and Michael Platini's 8-year ban from soccer sent down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The two controversial and corrupt figureheads of soccer's governing body were banned for what was deemed a conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA regarding a $2 million payment deal organized by Blatter in 2011.
Blatter told the media he would fight the ruling by way of appeal, but some of fans and legends of the sports world are already weighing in on the ban.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant who is set to retire at the end of the NBA season told reporters that the ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport was an "important first step" in cleansing the sport of soccer on a global scale.
Bryant is a five-time NBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medal winner who grew up playing soccer as a child in Italy. Bryant famously supports AC Milan and supported the condemnation of Blatter and Platini.
"It's always a touchy thing. You are dealing with big business," Bryant said. "I think this is an important first step to cleaning up the sport."
Bryant also believes like many experts do that Blatter and Platini deserved lifetime bans, and thinks that the new efforts to rebuild FIFA in the wake of the corruption scandals will be a successful one.
"I'm sure they are on top of it and I'm sure they will get the sport back where we all want it to be," he concluded.
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