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Ethics Committee bans Guyana FF president Colin Klass for 26 months
After being provisionally banned by FIFA pending further investigations by its Ethics Committee, the governing body for football internationally yesterday decided to ban former President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass for 26 months and fined him 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,573).
Colin Klass
According to a report, The FIFA Ethics Committee, under the chairmanship of Claudio Sulser (Switzerland), has today (yesterday) decided to ban Guyana FA president Colin Klass from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of 26 months and fined 5,000 CHF, after he 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 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) held in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) on 10 and 11 May 2011.
Klass becomes the fourth official connected with the bribery scandal to be banned by FIFA’s ethics committee.
A member of the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) executive committee and head of the GFF for the past 22 years, Klass and other members of the Union had attended a meeting in T&T with Mohamed Bin Hammam which led to him being given a life ban for bribery.
After that meeting, 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’.
Klass later denied to investigators having received any cash gifts but it is understood the brown envelope for the Guyana FA had been distributed.
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.
The report states: “Outside the boardroom, Mr Lunn encountered Lionel Haven (a former Bahamas FA board member) and Colin Klass.
‘According to Mr Lunn, Mr Klass stated: “Why is this door locked, are there people getting bribed around here?” The male (CFU official) then allowed Mr Klass to enter the boardroom, which he exited after a few minutes. Mr Lunn noticed that Mr Klass had a smile on his face and was slightly giggling.”
A further 15 Caribbean officials under investigation are awaiting hearing dates.
Bin Hammam was last month banned for life on charges of giving or offering bribes and is taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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