Former FIFA vice-president banned from football activities for life
Former FIFA official Jack Warner has been banned from football for life by world soccer's governing body.
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The former FIFA vice-president quit football four years ago amid a string of corruption allegations and is facing fraud charges as part of a United States investigation.
FIFA's Ethics Committee handed down the ban to Warner, who served as president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) between 1990 and 2011.
It comes after criminal proceedings were opened against FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday by Swiss authorities.
The former FIFA vice-president quit football four years ago amid a string of corruption allegations and is facing fraud charges as part of a United States investigation.
FIFA's Ethics Committee handed down the ban to Warner, who served as president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) between 1990 and 2011.
It comes after criminal proceedings were opened against FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday by Swiss authorities.
"In his positions as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, as well as other money-making schemes."
It said the ban was effective from September 25, the date on which the decision was made.
Warner was arrested in May in his native Trinidad and Tobago after the U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch accused him and a clutch of current or former FIFA officials of running a "rampant, systemic and deep-rooted" racket.
Warner quit FIFA in 2011 after he was suspended pending a bribery inquiry. After his resignation, FIFA said the investigation had been closed and "the presumption of innocence is maintained."
FIFA was plunged into crisis in late May when seven officials were charged by the FBI with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
The charges are part of a U.S. prosecution that indicted a total of 14 people from around the globe.
In further developments on Tuesday, Switzerland said it had approved the extradition of Eduardo Li -- former president of the Costa Rican Football Federation and one of those arrested -- to the United States.
Li is accused of taking bribes in connection with the sale of marketing rights for World Cup 2018 qualifiers to a U.S. sports marketing company. He has 30 days to appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, a separate probe by Swiss authorities is investigating potential corruption into the bidding process for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which will be hosted by Russia and Qatar.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke was suspended earlier in September, while the organization investigates allegations he participated in a scheme to profit off the sale of World Cup tickets on the black market.
Valcke has been relieved of his duties until further notice.
