FIFA Ethics and Regulations Watch (FERW) strongly supports FIFA’s decision to ban the former football official Juan Ángel Napout for life for bribery.
According to FIFA, its Ethics Committee has found that Mr Napout had breached art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) of the FIFA Code of Ethics and, as a result, banned him for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level. Mr Napout was also fined 1 million Swiss francs.
Mr Napout was a FIFA vice president and leader of South American football body CONMEBOL when he was arrested in Zurich in December 2015.
As an investigation revealed, Mr Napout was taking bribes worth millions of dollars linked to commercial contracts for South American football competitions during the period from 2012 to 2015. In 2018, after a lengthy trial, he was sentenced to nine years in prison by a New York court for accepting bribes of about $10.5 million.
In light of this news, FERW calls on FIFA to investigate corruption cases in sports worldwide.
Furthermore, FERW also calls on all football clubs and associations officials to abide by FIFA regulations and act in accordance with the FIFA Code of Ethics to ensure that all practices are conducted in a clean and moral environment.
