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FIFA

Banned FIFA official cited for misusing millions

Chuck Blazer was provisionally banned from the FIFA Executive Committee on Monday following a decision by the chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim 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 $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.

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FOOTBALL

Trial over 2006 German World Cup corruption opens in Switzerland

Three former German football officials and ex-FIFA Secretary General Urs Linsi went on trial on Monday in Switzerland over suspicions that Germany bought votes to obtain the 2006 World Cup.

Trial over 2006 German World Cup corruption opens in Switzerland
Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

The three defendants have indicated that they will not be present at the hearing in Bellinzona for a variety of reasons, including fear of travelling because of coronavirus contagion.

Swiss Linsi, 70, former German Football Association (DFB) presidents Wolfgang Niersbach, 69, and Theo Zwanziger, 74, and 78-year-old former DFB General Secretary Horst R. Schmidt are being prosecuted for “fraud”.

They are accused by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office (BA) of concealing from the DFB the true destination of a transfer of 6.7 million euros ($7.6 million today), paid in 2005 by the organising committee to former Adidas boss, the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, via FIFA.

The case of former World Cup organising committee chairman Franz Beckenbauer is being heard separately because of the former Germany captain's poor health.

The investigation was prompted by a report in German publication Der Spiegel in 2015 that Germany had used a secret fund of 10 million Swiss francs (6.7 million euros at the time) to buy votes and obtain the rights to host the competition at the expense of South Africa.

Beckenbauer is suspected of having asked Louis-Dreyfus, to contribute to this fund shortly before the vote on the host in the summer of 2000.

Louis-Dreyfus was allegedly reimbursed by the German Football Association on the pretext of expenses related to a FIFA gala evening, which ever took place.

Zwanziger, Niersbach and Schmidt have also been charged with tax fraud in Germany and the case is expected to come to trial in the coming months. cpb/pb/td

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