By Andrew Warshaw
September 23 – The ongoing FIFA bribery scandal snared yet another victim today when the President of the Guyana Football Association, Colin Klass, was banned for 26 months by the organisation’s Ethics Committee.
Klass was also fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,500/$5,500/€4,000) by the sport’s governing body for his involvement in the infamous meeting where former FIFA Presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam – since banned for life but taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport – allegedly offered bribes of $40,000 (£25,000/€29,000).
Klass is the first of 16 officials from the Caribbean to receive a sanction after FIFA opened proceedings against them last month.
The others are expected to face an Ethics Committee hearing next month as first reported by insideworldfootball.
It is understood the probe into Klass concerned accusations that he obstructed the investigation into Bin Hammam and Jack Warner, the controversial former FIFA vice-president and head of CONCACAF who arranged the Trinidad meeting in May and who resigned from all footballing activities before his case could be heard.
On July 26 FIFA gave Caribbean Football Union officials who were said to have been at the meeting 48 hours to come forward with information.
FIFA said it had had received “specific information” about the behaviour of Klass who headed his association for 22 years.
FIFA said in a statement today that Klass “was found to have breached various articles of the FIFA code of ethics (articles 3, 9 and 14) following an investigation related to the special meeting of the CFU held in Trinidad & Tobago on 10 and 11 May 2011.”
According to a witness statement, Klass was seen emerging from the room where envelopes containing the $40,000 (£25,000/€29,000) were being handed out.
There was no immediate news whether or not he would appeal the sanction.
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