The President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss, Michel Platini, have been suspended for eight years from all football-related activities following an ethics investigation.
They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a $2 million “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
The FIFA ethics committee said that Blatter and Platini had demonstrated an “abusive execution” of their positions.
Addressing a news conference after the decision was reached, Blatter, 79, said: “I will fight for me and for FIFA”.
The BBC quoted Platini as saying that the decision was a “masquerade” intended to “dirty” his name.
Both men continue to deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Swiss Blatter and 60-year-old Frenchman Platini have also been fined $40,000 and $80,000 respectively.
FIFA boss since 1998, Blatter had already announced he was quitting with a presidential election in February.
Platini was tipped as a future leader of football’s world governing body and is a three-time European Footballer of the Year.
He is also a former captain of France and has been in charge of Uefa – European football’s governing body – since 2007.
Blatter was in defiant mood at a news conference he had called in advance of the punishments being made public.