The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee chaired by Mr Hans‑Joachim Eckert has banned Mr Rafael Callejas, the former President of the Honduran FA (FENAFUTH) and a former member of the FIFA Marketing and TV Committee, and Alfredo Hawit Banegas, the former General Secretary and President of FENAFUTH, a former Vice-President and Acting President of CONCACAF as well as a former FIFA Vice-President, for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level.
The investigations against Mr Callejas and Mr Hawit were opened on 4 December 2015 and conducted by Dr Cornel Borbély, the chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, based on a press release from the United States Department of Justice on 3 December 2015.
On 28 March 2016, Mr Callejas pleaded guilty to two counts charging him with racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. His guilty plea related to one scheme by means of which he asked for and received bribes from sports marketing companies in relation to the awarding of marketing rights for UNCAF region World Cup qualifiers. Mr Hawit pleaded guilty on 11 April 2016 to four counts charging him with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct justice. His guilty plea relates to schemes by means of which he received bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for the awarding of contracts for the media and marketing rights to CONCACAF tournaments and UNCAF region World Cup qualifiers.
The adjudicatory chamber found Mr Callejas and Mr Hawit guilty of having violated art. 13 (General rules of conduct), 15 (Loyalty), 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting), 19 (Conflicts of interest) and 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE). As a consequence, both officials are banned for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level.
The bans come into force upon notification of the decisions.