July 6 – FIFA has slapped St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation president Venold Coombs with a two-year ban and a hefty fine after finding him guilty on corruption charges.
Coombs’ offences were committed at the last World Cup in Brazil and he has finally, as the World Cup in Russia is in full swing, been banned following an investigation by the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee.
In a statement FIFA said it had investigated Coombs’s resale of tickets for the 2014 World Cup and discovered that he had breached its Code of Ethics relating to bribery and corruption, conflicts of interest and loyalty.
Coombes has been banned for two years from all football-related activities at national and international level, and fined $40,000.
“The investigation into Mr Coombs was opened on 9 June 2016 and focused on the resale of tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil,” FIFA said in a statement.
“The investigatory chamber analysed allegations that Mr Coombs had sold tickets purchased by the SVGFF and by him personally in his capacity as a FIFA standing committee member for a profiteering mark-up.
“The adjudicatory chamber found Mr Coombs guilty of having violated articles 21 (Bribery and corruption), 19 (Conflicts of interest) and 15 (Loyalty) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
“Mr Coombs is therefore banned for two years from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level. A fine in the amount of USD 40,000 has also been imposed on Mr Coombs.”
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