FIFA’s Ethics Committee bans former Asian Football Confederation vice-president for 10 years over bribery allegations

Former AFC vice-president Ganesh Thapa (left) has been given a 10-year ban from all football activity ©Getty Images

FIFA’s Ethics Committee have announced All-Nepal Football Association (ANFA) President Ganesh Thapa has been banned for 10 years from all football activity following an investigation.

Thapa, the former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) vice-president, was found guilty of “various acts of misconduct over several years”.

These related to the 2009 and 2011 elections for the FIFA Executive Committee at the AFC Congress.

The Investigatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee, chaired by Swiss attorney Cornel Borbély, deemed the 55-year-old to have offered and accepted cash payments from another football official, for both personal and financial gain.

As a result he was found guilty of committing acts contrary to article 13 related to general rules of conduct, article 15, loyalty, article 18, duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting and article 19, conflicts of interest of the FIFA Code of Ethics, in addition to breaching article 20, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits and article 21, bribery and corruption.

Thapa, also currently under investigation in Nepal for allegedly embezzling millions of pounds of football development money from both FIFA and the AFC, was also fined CHF 20,000 (£13,000/$20,000/€18,500) by the Ethics Committee.

Ganesh Thapa and Viphet Sihachakr's bans are the latest to be announced by the FIFA Ethics Committee as investigations into corruption in the governing body continue ©Getty Images

The Ethics Committee have also handed Lao Football Federation President Viphet Sihachakr for two years from all football activity, which is also related to his conduct at the 2011 elections for the FIFA Executive Committee at the AFC Congress.

He has also been fined CHF 40,000 (£26,000/$40,000/€37,000).

Similarly to Thapa, Sihachakr was found guilty following an investigation of having solicited and accepted a payment from another football official, breaching article 13, general rules of conduct, article 19, conflicts of interest and article 20, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

Both bans, which have come to immediate effect, are the latest in a string of sanctions to have been announced by the Ethics Committee in recent months as world football’s governing body continue to be stung by numerous corruption allegations.

The arrest of seven FIFA officials at Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel in May as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption has triggered a string of officials being suspended and fined.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, made the subject of a Swiss criminal investigation in September, has always denied any wrongdoing but is currently serving a 90-day suspension handed out by the FIFA Ethics Committee after allegedly making a "disloyal" payment of CHF2 million (£1.3 million/$2 million/€1.8 million) to UEFA President Michel Platini, who was also suspended.

Additionally the German Football Association (DFB) have been rocked in recent weeks by allegations of vote-buying to secure the right to stage the 2006 World Cup.