Reynald Temarii of Tahiti, the president of Oceania’s confederation, was suspended for one year for breaching FIFA’s loyalty and confidentiality rules when he was secretly filmed in the undercover sting.
With Adamu and Temarii suspended, 22 FIFA ruling committee members – instead of 24 – will vote in the World Cup secret ballots on Dec. 2 in Zurich.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said there was not enough time for Adamu and Temarii to overturn the ethics verdicts before the vote.
“There will only be 22 members for the vote,” Valcke said at a news conference.
The vote will proceed with a full slate of nine bid candidates after FIFA’s ethics committee, led by chairman Claudio Sulser, found no evidence to prove the British newspaper’s claims that Qatar and Spain-Portugal broke rules by colluding to exchange votes.
“We didn’t find sufficient grounds to reach the conclusion that there was any collusion,” said Sulser, adding that the FIFA voters implicated gave written statements but were not questioned.
The 2018 contest is between England, Russia and the joint bids of Belgium-Holland and Spain-Portugal. The 2022 race involves the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar.
Temarii’s lawyer, Geraldine Lesieur, said he was cleared of corruption but banned over confidentiality rules.
“We have trouble understanding” the decision, Lesieur told The Associated Press. She acknowledged his appeal would not be completed before Dec. 2.
Thursday’s rulings were delivered after a month-long investigation that FIFA President Sepp Blatter insisted should “bring back credibility to football.”
Sulser’s panel examined evidence and heard witnesses in a three-day session this week, using unedited videos and transcripts provided by the newspaper.
“The damage done to FIFA is very great,” said Sulser, who also spoke out against the newspaper for “twisting the facts” by publishing edited interviews.
Sulser said the six suspended officials broke the ethics code through lack of loyalty to FIFA while “others involve bribery because they did not refuse certain offers that were made to them.”
Four former FIFA executive members were suspended for a total of 12 years. They reportedly told reporters how to bribe FIFA officials and how much to pay.
Tunisian lawyer Slim Aloulou, who chairs FIFA’s disputes panel, received a two-year sanction. FIFA referees committee member Amadou Diakite of Mali and Ahongalu Fusimalohi from Tonga were suspended for three years, and Botswana’s Ismail Bhamjee got a four-year ban.
All can appeal the decisions.
All received fines of 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000), except for Temarii who was fined 5,000 Swiss Francs ($5,000).
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