3 Former FIFA Officials Slammed With Life Bans

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SteemSports Presenter: @rickie

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SteemSports Editor/Writer: @writingamigo

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• The United States Department of Justice is at the forefront of FIFA's corruption investigation
• 16 officials were convicted of corruption offenses by the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2015
• Corruption investigation revolves mostly around underhand deals between sports marketing executives and continental football officials
• At the end of May 2017, 9 FIFA officials, 5 corporate executives, and 14 people have been indicted, and some convicted of corruption charges

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The ethics committee of world football’s governing body FIFA has banned three former executives for life over their involvement in a massive corruption scandal.

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FIFA has slammed life bans through its ethics committee on its former officials from Venezuela, Guam, and Nicaragua for their involvements in widespread fraud and corruption.

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on Tuesday FIFA said that its action through the ethics committee is born out of a desire to address the issue of widespread fraud and corruption in the world of football.

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The three officials slammed with the FIFA bans on Tuesday are;

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Richard Lai

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Richard Lai is the former Guam Football Association president, and a former FIFA audit and compliance committee member.

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Julio Rocha Lopez

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Julio Rocha Lopez, a former development officer of FIFA, was also a former president of the Nicaraguan Football Association.

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Rafael Esquivel

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Mr. Esquivel is a former president of the Venezuelan Football Association.

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In a United States trial, all three men pleaded guilty to separate federal charges which ranged from money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud.

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Richard Lai pleaded guilty to the charge of taking one million dollars from the implicated party of powerful International Olympic Committee member Ahmad Al-Sabah of Kuwait and some officials, who were looking to buy influence.

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The pair of Julio Rocha and Rafael Esquivel pleaded guilty to collecting bribes in order to award media and marketing rights of matches which included Copa America matches and World Cup qualifiers.

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In December 2015, 16 officials were charged with various offenses by the United States’ Department of Justice. The figure adds to the 9 FIFA officials, 5 corporate executives and 14 people indicted at the end of May, of which some of them have been convicted of various corruption offenses.

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Reports from Reuters and NAN indicates that around 40 individuals and entities have been charged by the United States in an on-going investigation into corruption within FIFA.

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In the on-going investigations, some people and organizations have pleaded guilty and have also been convicted of various offenses.

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The corruption investigation revolves mostly around underhand deals between sports marketing executives and continental football officials of Central and North America (CONCACAF), South America (CONMEBOL) and the Caribbean.

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Media and marketing rights to high-profile matches including FIFA World Cup qualifiers in North and South America, the Copa America and tournaments like the CONCACAF Gold Cup, were held by Sports marketing executives.

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72-year-old Jack Warner from Trinidad and Tobago resigned when it was alleged that he had bribed Caribbean associates while he was a FIFA executive committee member between 1983 and 2011.

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Jack Warner insisted at the time that giving of gifts was a cultural part of FIFA in his 30 years with the organization. He further alleged that he was *“hung out to dry”*.

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