November 15 – Former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon has testified at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge his five-year ban for failing to cooperate with ethics investigators.
Chung, one of FIFA’s most powerful administrators between 1994 and 2011, was found guilty in 2015 of contravening rules while lobbying for his country’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup. FIFA’s appeals committee reduced his initial six-year ban to five, saying there was not enough evidence to prove he had infringed an article of FIFA’s ethics code covering confidentiality. It also halved the fine imposed on him to CHF 50,000.
A verdict is expected within weeks but seems unlikely to go the way of Chung, a member of the family that owns World Cup sponsor Hyundai. His cousin, Chung Mong-gyu, has since been elected to the FIFA Council.
Back in April, although the FIFA Appeals Committee reduced his ban, Chung complained that FIFA had been dragging out his case deliberately.
“Because the Ethics Committee had previously taken six months to send its reasoned decision, I can finally prepare to file an appeal to CAS, some 18 months after the original ban was imposed,” he said at the time.
“This is like a court carrying out the execution of the defendant, then sending out the ruling 18 months later. This is malicious behaviour.”
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