Football's
governing body has banned Alberto Colaco from the sport for three years for
taking "a payment" in connection with FIFA elections in 2009. The
move comes as pressure increases to publicize a corruption report.
body FIFA banned Indian footballing official Alberto Colaco
from the sport for three years on Thursday. Colaco had been the former general
secretary of India's national football federation, known as the AIFF.
A
sub-committee of the FIFA ethics committee, led by Hans-Joachim Eckert, found
Colaco guilty of accepting "a payment in the context of the elections for
the FIFA Executive Committee at the AFC Congress in May 2009," according
to a statement.
Colaco's
ban, which applies to all football activity at national and international
level, starts immediately.
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Meanwhile,
pressure is continuing to mount on FIFA to make public a report by lawyer
Michael Garcia on corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
The British
government wrote to FIFA President Sepp Blatter this week calling for the
release of the full investigation. The English FA's conduct in bidding for the
2018 World Cup was criticized in Eckert's report.
The secret
report
A criminal
investigation into allegations of World Cup bidding corruption could also be
opened in Britain, with authorities urging whistleblowers to come forward with
information.
The UK's
Serious Fraud Office is pursuing "every reasonable line of inquiry,
including working closely with appropriate overseas authorities," the
government department said, according to a letter sent to a British legislator.
The Swiss
attorney general has also already received a criminal complaint from FIFA
against possible law-breaking by unnamed individuals mentioned in the report.
Although
the Swiss authorities have a full copy of the bid probe, the 430-page report
remains secret, with only a 42-page summary judgment from FIFA ethics judge
Joachim Eckert having been published.
al/ksb (AFP, AP, dpa)
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