FIFA bans two former FA chiefs for life
FILE PHOTO: FIFA said the FAM’s former director of finance and administration, Mohamed Ageel, has also been banned for 10 years. | Photo Credit: AP
FILE PHOTO: FIFA said the FAM’s former director of finance and administration, Mohamed Ageel, has also been banned for 10 years. | Photo Credit: AP
Former Football Association of Maldives (FAM) president Bassam Adeel Jaleel has received a lifetime ban from all football-related activities for misappropriating COVID-19 relief funds for personal use, FIFA announced on Friday.
Jaleel, who had earlier been provisionally suspended while under investigation for alleged money laundering, embezzlement and corruption, has also been ordered to pay a fine of one million Swiss francs (USD 1.23 million).
Jaleel could not be reached for comment. Local media reports that he is serving prison sentences totalling 32 years for depositing FIFA funds into his personal account and using money from FIFA’s COVID-19 Relief Plan to buy an apartment.
Maldivian news outlet Sun Online said he was moved to house arrest last month on the medical board’s recommendation. He had previously been transferred to house arrest in March but was sent back to prison following public outrage.
FIFA said the FAM’s former director of finance and administration, Mohamed Ageel, has also been banned for 10 years. Ageel has been ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs for “facilitating and concealing misuse of FIFA funds, using falsified documentation and failing to cooperate with FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee,” FIFA added.
In a separate case, FIFA has also handed a lifetime ban to former Montserrat Football Association (MFA) president Vincent Cassell, along with a one-million-Swiss-franc fine, for “abuse of position, systemic conflicts of interest, misuse of FIFA and MFA funds and conduct affecting the physical and mental integrity of MFA staff members.”
The MFA’s former general secretary, Tandica Hughes, was banned for 15 years and fined 150,000 Swiss francs for “personally benefiting from and facilitating improper transactions involving FIFA and MFA resources,” FIFA said.
Reuters has contacted both the Maldives and Montserrat FAs for comment on this matter.
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