FIFA banned former executive committee member and ex-CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer from all soccer-related activity for life on Thursday.
Blazer, age 70, worked with US prosecutors after pleading guilty to charges of bribery, money laundering and tax evasion in 2013. In May, nine FIFA officials and five sports marketing executives – including then-CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb – were arrested on charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
Blazer admitted to US officials that he and other members of FIFA’s executive committee agreed to accept bribes during the process of awarding South Africa the 2010 World Cup and in connection with the 1998 tournament in France.
“The decision [to ban Blazer] was taken on the basis of investigations carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee in response to the final report of the CONCACAF integrity committee and the latest facts presented by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York,” read a FIFA statement.
The American, who is reportedly gravely ill with colon cancer, served as CONCACAF’s number-two official from 1990 to 2011, and sat on FIFA’s executive committee between 1997 and 2013.
