FIFA's president has asked the French football authorities to suspend the licence of Michael Essien's agent after learning of the two-year suspended sentence he received for the misappropriation of funds that were to be used to finance a terrorist enterprise, a spokesman for Sepp Blatter confirmed yesterday.

Fabien Piveteau, the Monaco-based representative of Essien, remains a licensed agent accredited by the French Football Federation despite having been convicted in May for being an accessory to the diversion of funds during the Chelsea midfielder's move from the Corsican club Bastia to Lyon in 2003.