FIFA provisionally ban Chuck Blazer

ZURICH: Chuck Blazer was provisionally banned from the FIFA Executive Committee on Monday following a decision by the chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee, HansJoachim Eckert.

Blazer, who stepped down last year as general secretary of CONCACAF, football’s governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has been accused of misappropriating the federation’s funds for his personal use.

A FIFA statement said: “The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, Hans- Joachim Eckert, has decided to provisionally ban FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer from taking part in any kind of football- related activity at national and international level for a maximum period of 90 days.

“The decision was taken following a request made by the acting deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Robert Torres, based on the fact that various breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics appear to have been committed by Chuck Blazer and that a decision on the main issue could not be taken early enough.”

Blazer was accused in a report by the CONCACAF Integrity Committee of misappropriating US$ 15 million as well as other funds to buy and rent luxury apartments.

He resigned from his post in CONCACAF last year after accusing then- CONCACAF president Jack Warner and Asian confederation supremo Mohamed bin Hammam of trying to bribe Caribbean delegates to vote for bin Hammam in FIFA’s presidential election.

Blazer’s accusations led to the downfall of bin Hammam, the resignation of Warner as a FIFA vice president and CONCACAF leader, and sanctions against several Caribbean football officials.