FIFA said Sunday that a full inquiry would be held to investigate corruption allegations involving senior officials Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner.
Qatar’s bin Hammam, who pulled out of the election for FIFA president earlier on Sunday, and CONCACAF president Jack Warner will also be suspended from FIFA duties while the probe takes place.
However, allegations against FIFA president Sepp Blatter were dropped after the ethics committee decided he had no case to answer.
Blatter was included after bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said the FIFA president, who is standing for a fourth term, might have known about cash payments to delegates.
Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary general, said the election to appoint the new president would be held on June 1.
He added that an independent company would be appointed to carry out the investigation into the allegations against bin Hammam and Walker.
He also said that alleged bribes relating to Qatar’s successful World Cup bid for 2022 was not discussed by the ethics committee.
He said FIFA was waiting for further information, adding that efforts to hold a meeting with a so-called whistleblower had so far failed. “We are still trying to have this meeting,” he told reporters.
Petrus Damaseb, deputy chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee, said both bin Hammam and Walker “remained innocent until proven guilty”. He added that their temporary suspension was to make sure that the investigation is not compromised.
The investigation was opened last week following a report by American FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer on a Port of Spain meeting linked to the election campaign and involving Warner, bin Hammam and Caribbean officials earlier this month.
Blazer’s report mentioned possible violations of the code of ethics, including bribery allegations.
FIFA, which has 208 member nations, controls the management of the world’s most lucrative sport, and rakes in $4bn from every hosting of the World Cup, which is held every four years.
Bin Hammam was seen as central to Qatar’s successful bid to hold the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf state.
Blatter has since refused to rule out that vote being re-run. If FIFA opts to resubmit the vote on the 2022 World Cup, it will be the first time in the organisation’s 107-year history that such an event will have taken place.
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