February 18 – FIFA’s ethics investigators have requested life bans for two senior South American officials who have already pleaded guilty as part of the FBI probe into widespread bribery and corruption.
Late last year two of CONMEBOL’s vice-presidents, Luis Bedoya, a FIFA executive committee member, and Sergio Jadue, presidents of the Colombian and Chilean federations respectively, resigned after admitting charges of racketeering and wire fraud conspiracy.
The US justice department says Bedoya and Jadue took “annual six-figure bribe payments” linked to tournament broadcasting rights. Cornel Borbely, chairman of the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee, has submitted a report to ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert on the activities of both men. No date has been set for any judgement.
The FIFA ethics committee statement said:
The chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Dr Cornel Borbély, has concluded his investigation into the activities of Luis Bedoya and Sergio Jadue and handed over the two reports, together with recommendations, to the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, which is chaired by Mr Hans-Joachim Eckert.
As the U.S. Department of Justice informed the public on 3 December 2015, Luis Bedoya, a former member of the FIFA Executive Committee, a former CONMEBOL vice-president and, until October 2015 the President of the Colombian FA, on 12 November 2015 waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. As the U.S. Department of Justice moreover conveyed on 3 December 2015, Sergio Jadue, a former vice-president of CONMEBOL and the former President of the Chilean FA, on 23 November 2015 waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
In his final reports, the chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee recommended imposing on both Mr Bedoya and Mr Jadue a lifelong ban on taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for an alleged violation of the general rules of conduct (art. 13 of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE)), loyalty (art. 15 FCE), duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting (art. 18 FCE), conflicts of interest (art. 19 FCE), bribery and corruption (art. 21 FCE) and general obligation to collaborate (art. 41 FCE).
Until formal decisions are taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Mr Bedoya and Mr Jadue are presumed innocent.
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