By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 11 – Another leading FIFA administrator was dramatically suspended today when Sri Lanka’s Vernon Manilal Fernando (pictured) was provisionally banned from any football activity for 90 days as part of an ongoing investigation by corruption busters.
Fernando was a close ally of former Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hamman, banned for life by FIFA last year after an investigation into the infamous cash-for-votes scandal and separate allegations of misusing AFC funds.
In a brief statement, FIFA said the decision to suspend Fernando was taken “in order to prevent interference with the establishment of the truth with respect to proceedings now in the adjudicatory chamber”.
The suspension relates to Garcia’s ongoing probe into the alleged misuse of AFC accounts though FIFA did not say if there were any specific allegations against Fernando.
Fernando became the first Sri Lankan to join the top table of world football’s governing body at the AFC Congress in Oman in January 2011 when he promised to work for the betterment of Asian football.
It marked a huge moment for South Asia in terms of the region having a voice in the corridors of power at FIFA but his suspension could not have come at a worse time in terms of the image and development of Asian football.
Following the bin Hammam case, four candidates are running for AFC president at this year’s Congress on May 2, and two for bin Hammam’s FIFA executive committee place. But Fernando’s ban will cast a dark shadow over the process, not least for Thailand’s Worawi Makudi, the sole representative from south Asia running for president who would certainly have counted on Fernando’s vote.
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