The suspended UEFA president Michel Platini promises to tell "the truth, and only the truth" when he arrives at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for his appeal hearing against a 90-day suspension from FIFA.

Platini hopes that the highest sports court will overturn the suspension no later than Friday, which would allow the Frenchman to resume his campaign for the FIFA presidential elections on February 26. It would also allow him to attend the Euro Cup draw in Paris on Saturday.

The CAS panel judging Platini's appeal must decide whether the suspension imposed while FIFA's ethics committee reviews his case was excessive punishment.

Platini was the favorite candidate to succeed Joseph Blatter as FIFA president, until both were questioned by Swiss authorities on September 25 for an alleged "unfair payment" of two million dollars that Blatter authorized for Platini in 2011, supposedly for unpaid salaries for Platini's work as Blatter's advisor between 1998-2002.

"I want to tell (the judges) more than what I told you (the press)," a smiling Platini said upon entering the courthouse.

Platini and Blatter face life bans when they appear before FIFA's ethics committee next week at the football governing body's headquarters in Zurich.

Both deny any wrongdoing, although they admit that there was no written contract and there was a verbal agreement, which they deem valid under Swiss law.

Nevertheless, FIFA was not obliged to pay Platini when more than five years had passed since he finished his work.

The timing of the payment, which was not disclosed to FIFA and UEFA executive committees, is also suspicious. It occurred just when Blatter was facing the challenge of Mohamed bin Hammam for the presidency. During the campaign, Bin Hammam said he was willing to strike a deal with Platini to secure European votes.

Instead, weeks before the June 2011 vote, UEFA asked its members to support Blatter, who was elected unopposed when Bin Hammam was implicated in a corruption scandal.

Platini could return to CAS in January if FIFA's ethics committee sanctions him for offenses ranging from bribery to conflicts of interest and violation of confidentiality rules. The Frenchman has revealed details of the case in interviews and appears to continue with some of his functions at UEFA.

The ethics committee has stated that it expects to have rulings on the cases of Platini and Blatter before Christmas.

Blatter has not yet appealed his provisional suspension to CAS.