ZURICH: Former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke became the latest high-profile football official to be sidelined from the sport when he was banned for 12 years on Friday after causing “considerable financial” damage to the game’s governing body.

FIFA’s ethics committee, in announcing the decision, said the case had centred around misconduct connected to the sale of World Cup tickets, one of a number of scandals rocking football’s crisis-plagued governing body.

It said Valcke, also fined 100,000 Swiss francs, was also involved in “the abuse of the FIFA travel expenses policies and regulations, cases involving related-parties issues and the sale of TV and other media rights, and the destruction of evidence”.

“Mr Valcke acted against FIFA’s best interests and caused considerable financial damage to FIFA, while his private and personal interests detracted him from his ability to properly perform his duties as the secretary general of FIFA,” said the statement.

Valcke, who had held the role for nearly eight years, was put on leave by FIFA in September and fired in January.

The ethics committee has already banned outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European football boss Michel Platini for eight years apiece, and other officials have been suspended over the last four years.

FIFA is mired in the worst crisis in its 111-year history, with corruption investigations under way in Switzerland and the US. Several dozen people, including senior football officials, have been indicted.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2016