The official was handed a seven-year ban from all footballing activity in July, deeming him the first person to be so punished for wrongdoing following the governing body's investigation into Qatar's victory in the 2022 race.

Reasons for the verdict were not disclosed until last week, however, partly due to a decision being made to prioritise the cases of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, the respective Presidents of FIFA and UEFA who were each handed eight year bans last month.

Mayne-Nicholls was eventually found to have have breached four articles of the FIFA Ethics Code in having “ignored his responsibility as a high-ranking official” in “repeatedly [asking] for personal favours related to the hosting and training of his relatives at an institution linked with a Bid Committee.”

This primarily involved asking the Qataris if some of his closest relatives - a son, a nephew and a brother-in-law - could have work placements at the Aspire youth academy in Doha, the state-of-the-art facility strongly connected with the Gulf nation's successful bid.

He admits he acted naively given the context, but claims he would have paid for the internships - which never ultimately materialised - himself.

The punishment hardly fits the crime, he claims, in comparison to the corruption carried out by others in the under fire world governing body.

Qatar was also placed bottom of his list of candidates suitable to host the two World Cups in the inspection team's technical report into the bidding process. 

Mayne-Nicholls claimed he "always acted in football's best interests, with neutrality and integrity", insisting that his punishment "basically contradicts the principles of the justice system".

"I challenge anyone to prove that I offered or accepted any sort of perk, or that I put myself or any other individual in a situation involving a conflict of interest," he added.

“The Aspire Academy was not part of Qatar’s 2022 bid.

"This was about an opportunity to provide education for two children and was not a conflict of interest because I had proposed paying all the expenses involved.”

The Ethics Committee are keen to deliver a strong message that, as head of the technical inspection team, Mayne-Nicholls had a special obligation to neutrality.

The Chilean, at one stage considered a potential Presidential opponent for Blatter, is expected to appeal first to the FIFA Appeal Committee and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Both Blatter and Platini are also appealing their sentences.