Suspended European soccer boss Michel Platini will resign as head of governing body UEFA after losing a top-level appeal against a ban for ethics violations, but he will continue to fight to clear his name.

One of the finest players of his generation who went on to become a powerful sporting ­official, Platini was suspended after his dealings with fallen world soccer chief Sepp Blatter dragged him into the scandal that engulfed the sport's global governing body, FIFA.

Sport's highest tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), upheld Platini's suspension on Monday, although it ­reduced the term from six years to four.

The ruling means that UEFA, which has not replaced Platini since he was initially banned in October, will have to elect a new president.

UEFA said its Executive Committee would meet on May 18 in Basel, Switzerland to discuss the next steps, adding that no stand-in president will be appointed in the meantime.

That decision means ­European soccer will almost ­certainly have no figurehead during the European Championship to be held in France in June and July.

Platini has pledged to continue his campaign to overturn the ban. His only remaining ­recourse is to appeal to the Swiss federal court, but this can only overturn the verdict if it finds procedural irregularities.

"I see this as a profound injustice ... As agreed with the national associations, I am resigning from my functions as president of UEFA in order to pursue my fight with the Swiss courts to prove my integrity in this affair," Platini said in a statement.

A lawyer for Platini, Yves Wehrli, said the Frenchman would resign from UEFA "in the coming days."

Platini was exiled from the sport along with former FIFA president Blatter over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.08 million) made to the Frenchman by FIFA with Blatter's approval in 2011 for work done a decade earlier. FIFA's ethics committee said the payment, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, lacked transparency and presented conflicts of interest. Both men have denied wrong­doing.