FIFA bans Executive Committee Member Manilal Fernando for 90 days

Tuesday, 12 March 2013 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LONDON (Reuters): FIFA Executive Committee Member Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka was provisionally banned from any football activity for 90 days on Monday, FIFA said in a statement.

Fernando, 63, has been a member of the FIFA executive since 2011 and was banned following a request by Michael Garcia, the Chairman of the Investigatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee and Hans-Joachim Eckert, the Chairman of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Committee.

Fernando is a former close ally of banned ex-FIFA Executive Committee Member Mohamed Bin Hamman.

In its statement, FIFA said the decision was taken “based on Article 83, Paragraph One of the FIFA Code of Ethics, in order to prevent interference with the establishment of the truth with respect to proceedings now in the adjudicatory chamber”.

Bin Hamman was banned from football for life last year following his involvement in a bribery scandal surrounding the FIFA presidential election in 2011.