The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert, has decided to ban the football official Najeeb Chirakal for life from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level.

The investigation into Mr Chirakal was conducted by Vanessa Allard, member of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, which resulted in a final report being submitted to the adjudicatory chamber on 2 November 2016. Adjudicatory proceedings were formally opened on 14 November 2016.

The adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Chirakal had been involved in several unethical payments made on behalf of a third party to various football officials between 2009 and 2011, and had failed to collaborate in various ethics proceedings. It determined that Mr Chirakal’s conduct violated articles 13 (General rules of conduct), 15 (Loyalty), 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting), 19 (Conflicts of interest), 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits), 21 (Bribery and corruption), 41 (Obligation of the parties to collaborate) and 42 (General obligation to collaborate) of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

The sanction is effective from 20 January 2017, the date on which this decision was notified.