The Zambian was suspended by FIFA in August last year following an investigation into his links to disgraced Qatari official Mohammed Bin Hammam.

The 55-year-old, a former member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee and ex-Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President, allegedly accepted a bribe from Bin Hammam when the Qatari was standing against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA Presidency.

Bin Hammam, later banned for life by FIFA for corruption, was head of the Asian Football Confederation and a FIFA vice-president when the bribe was allegedly paid.

Bwalya, Africa's footballer of the year in 1988, contested the two-year sanction to the FIFA Appeal Committee, which agreed to "reduce the duration of the ban from taking part in any football-related activity to the period already served at the time of the notification of the present decision".

"As a consequence, the ban imposed on Mr Bwalya ended upon notification of the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee," a FIFA statement read.

In response, Bwalya, who scored 39 goals in 87 appearances for Zambia and served as FAZ President from 2008 to 2016, said he was "happy and relieved to be back in the game".

"Thank you to all the people who supported me throughout,"he added in a post on Twitter.

According to reports, Bwalya, who withdrew his bid for a place on the FIFA Council during the investigation, will now be able to regain his position on the CAF Executive Committee.

Bwalya's fine of CHF100,000 (£77,000/$100,000/€88,000) has also been cut to CHF10,000 (£7,700/$10,000/€8,800).