Three Fifa officials have been banned by the world soccer body’s ethics committee, under the chairmanship of Namibia’s Petrus Damaseb.
According to Fifa, the officials will not take part in any soccer-related activity, whether on or off the pitch, for periods from one year to life, after they were found guilty of breaching various articles of the Fifa Code of Ethics.
Fifa took the decision during a two-day meeting of the ethics committee held in Zurich, Switzerland on 22–23 July.
Among those banned are executive committee member and former candidate for the Fifa presidency, Mohamed bin Hammam, who is excluded for life from participating in any football-related activity at national or international level.
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester each received a one-year ban for their part in the scandal, which saw former Fifa vice president Jack Warner resign before his investigation was concluded.
Executive committee member Chuck Blazer – who blew the whistle on the bribery scandal that shook Fifa earlier this year – was also warned over his allegations at the Zurich Concacaf caucus meeting on 30 May regarding deeper corruption in the CFU that proved to be unfounded.
Meanwhile, Bin Hammam has denied any wrongdoing, describing his ban as “revenge” for standing against Fifa president Sepp Blatter in the last election for the top job in soccer.
“I was expecting a lifetime ban, actually. That shows how full of revenge these people are. The ban was decided before the investigation even started,” said the former head of the Asian Football Confederation, who was not at the ethics committee hearing.
Bin Hammam maintained his innocence over the bribery charges and will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in Lausanne.
“My legal team were almost sure that Fifa would use my appearance for their own purpose and not for the purpose of the trial,” Bin Hammam added.
“We didn’t know what the accusations were so wrote to Fifa. They said I would find out on 22 July. From that, you know Fifa had already taken the decision; they only wanted a platform to announce it.
He described the Fifa appeal committee as a “kangaroo court” and that Cas is “where we believe we will get the necessary justice”.
