FIFA announced on Wednesday afternoon that the two members of the FIFA Executive Committee recently caught in a bribery sting have been provisionally suspended.
"The decision to provisionally suspend these officials is fully justified and should not be put in question," FIFA Ethics Committee chairman Claudio Sulser said in a press release. "The evidence that has been presented to us today has led us to take this provisional measure, as we considered that the conditions were definitely met to take this decision and we deem that it is crucial to protect the integrity of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process. We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the Code of Ethics."
Proceedings were opened against the accused two members of the FIFA Executive Committee, Amos Adamu (Nigeria) and Reynald Temarii (Tahiti), on October 18 following a report last week in the Sunday Times that the two committee members were willing to accept bribes in exchange for their votes in the World Cup bidding process.
The paper's investigative reporters posed as representatives of the US World Cup bid for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
The provisional suspension of Adamu and Temarii was put into immediate effect while the Ethics Committee's investigation continues. The FIFA press release cited "the likelihood that a breach of the FIFA statues, the FIFA Code of Ethics and the FIFA Disciplinary Code has been committed."
In addition, FIFA took action against four other officials—Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismael Bhamjee—in relation to alleged ethics breaches. All four were suspended provisionally.
This story will be updated...
