FIFA bans World Cup bid inspector for seven years
July 6, 2015
FIFA's ethics committee said Monday Mayne-Nicholls would be barred from "any kind of football-related activity at national and international level" for seven years.
The football body did not provide specific information about his offense, but said in a statement it was connected to a breach of confidentiality rule in FIFA's code of ethics. It added that more details would be released, "after this final decision becomes effective."
Mayne-Nicholls, a former head of the Chilean Football Federation, was chosen to lead the FIFA evaluation committee for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. He compiled a technical report in 2010 after visiting all nine countries bidding to host the two tournaments. In that report, he flagged Qatar as the riskiest of the five 2022 candidates, and raised concerns about hosting the competition in just one city.
FIFA is currently being investigated by US and Swiss authorities , money laundering and fraud.
Last week, the US filed formal requests to extradite seven FIFA officials who were detained on bribery charges in Switzerland in May.
Swiss prosecutors have also opened criminal proceedings over the selection of Russia and Qatar as the venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
nm/kms (Reuters, AFP, AP)