The worldwide governing body said in a statement that they would "monitor the situation" regarding Al-Musallam, who has asked the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Ethics Committee to investigate.

Al-Musallam, the right-hand man of Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, was seemingly identified in the DoJ indictment published in relation to the case concerning Guam's Richard Lai, who admitted receiving nearly $1 million (£773,000/€915,000) in bribes.

It detailed "co-conspirator number three" as a "a high-ranking official of the OCA and an official of the Kuwait Football Association (KFA)".

The high-ranking FINA official is director general of the OCA and a key member of the KFA.

Al-Musallam told insidethegames yesterday that he denied any wrongdoing.

Sheikh Ahmad resigned as a member of the FIFA Council and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Executive Committee on Sunday (April 30) in the wake of his alleged link to the ongoing FIFA corruption probe.

The key sporting powerbroker, who also withdrew his candidacy for re-election to FIFA's ruling Council, has strongly refuted suggestions he was involved and has vowed to "vigorously defend his integrity and reputation".

"FINA is aware of the media reports concerning the allegations against its first vice-president Husain Al-Musallam," the FINA statement read.

"Even though this case is not directly related to FINA, we will of course monitor the situation and take all measures deemed necessary following the conclusion of the various investigations."

Al-Musallam, who is hoping to be re-elected as a first vice-president at FINA's Congress in Budapest on July 22, held prior to the World Aquatics Championships in the Hungarian capital, said the OCA Ethics Committee were now looking into the claims.

He told insidethegames they had "all the documents to prove our position" relating to his alleged implication.

The Kuwaiti official is a member of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Olympic Solidarity Commission, chaired by Sheikh Ahmad.

The IOC said in a statement yesterday that their Ethics Commission was "following up on the full file".

Sheikh Ahmad appeared to have been identified by the DoJ as they listed "co-conspirator number two" as a "high-ranking official of FIFA, the KFA and the OCA".

It also said the Kuwaiti official was then elected onto the Executive Committee, which has since been rebranded as the FIFA Council.

The alleged implication of Sheikh Ahmad, who was instrumental in helping Thomas Bach's election as IOC President back in 2013, and Al-Musallam comes as a result of the DoJ probe reaching Asia for the first time.

American citizen Lai, a member of the FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee who has since been suspended for 90 days by world football's governing body, admitted being paid $100,000 (£77,000/€91,000) by an AFC official who was then running for the FIFA Presidency against disgraced Sepp Blatter in 2011.

The money was allegedly used in exchange for Lai's vote and support.

It was also revealed that the 55-year-old received a further $850,000 (£657,000/€777,000) between 2009 and 2014 from various officials in the Asian region to help them further their influence within the AFC and FIFA.

The bribes were to "use his influence to advance the interests of the Kuwaiti official, including helping the Kuwaiti official identify other members of the AFC to whom they could offer bribes", prosecutors said.