Confederation of African Football vice-president, Farah Addo, has been banned by Fifa for two years for accusing Sepp Blatter of fixing his election.
The decision was made by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee, under the chairmanship of Switzerland`s Marcel Mathier.
"The sanction comes as a result of statements from the Somali official that appeared in the media in February 2002, citing irregular financial practices that were intended to assist the election of Joseph S. Blatter to the Fifa Presidency in 1998," a Fifa statement said.
The statement added that Addo had also made "accusations against Fifa Executive Committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam and, by implication, called the integrity of the Fifa President himself into question."
The
panel was highly critical of the way Addo had defended himself when challenged on the basis of his allegations.
"Invited by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee to produce evidence of his allegations, Mr Addo was unable to do so," the statement said.
They added Addo had merely presented a photo of Bin Hammam "at the centre of a group of people who, according to [Addo], had signed a declaration to confirm they had received payment... in exchange for their votes for presidential candidate Blatter.
The panel concluded that Addo had "undermined the interests of football as a whole."
Addo has been banned from all Fifa activity until 20 January 2005.
He had already lost his post on Fifa`s refereeing committee in October 2002.
