News Americas, LONDON, England, Mon. Sept. 26. 2011: Guyana Football Association head and a member of the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) executive committee has been banned by FIFA.
FIFA’s ethics committee has banned Colin Klass for 26 months for bribery. FIFA said in a statement that Klass “was found to have breached various articles of the FIFA code of ethics (articles 3, 9 and 14) following an investigation related to the special meeting of the CFU held in Trinidad & Tobago on 10 and 11 May 2011.”
Klass orchestrated a campaign of support for Jack Warner who resigned as FIFA vice-president in June after himself being charged with bribery. According to a witness statement, Klass was seen emerging from the boardroom where envelopes containing 40,000 US dollars (£25,868) were being handed out to Caribbean associations and was “giggling slightly.”
The report by investigators from ex-FBI director Louis Freeh’s company quotes evidence from Bahamas vice-president Fred Lunn, who took a photo of the cash he was given before returning it on the afternoon of May 10, stating that Klass went into the room when the money was being given.
Klass was also fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,573).
Fifteen other Caribbean officials under investigation are awaiting hearing dates.
