FIFA Bans Sierra Leone FA Official For 5 Years Over Bribery

FIFA Bans Sierra Leone FA Official For 5 Years Over Bribery

By Admin

Former Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) official Abu Bakarr Kabba has become the latest to be sanctioned for bribery by FIFA in connection with the manipulation of football matches.

Kabba has been banned for five years by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, which found him guilty of “having accepted and received bribes in relation to the manipulation of international matches”.

FIFA has also fined him CHF50,000 (£40,500/$50,000/€45,000).

Kabba, who FIFA said was a former official affiliated to the SLFA, was sanctioned as part of a long-term investigation into known match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal.

FIFA said formal ethics proceedings were opened against Kabba in July of last year.

The sanction, which comes into force today, bans Kabba from “all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level”.

Singaporean match-fixer Perumal was arrested and jailed in Finland in 2011 for fixing top-tier football matches in the country.

In a statement, FIFA said it had conducted an “extensive investigation into various international matches (attempted to be) manipulated for betting purposes by Mr Wilson Raj Perumal”.

Earlier this week, world football’s governing body banned former Botswana Football Association general secretary Mooketsi Kgotlele for life as part of the investigation.

In April, FIFA banned for life seven current and former footballers for their involvement in match-fixing.

Karlon Murray and Keyeno Thomas of Trinidad and Tobago, Malawi’s Hellings Mwakasungula, Sierra Leone’s Ibrahim Kargbo, Benin’s Séïdath Tchomogo, Cuba’s Leonel Duarte and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Salim Israfeel Kohistani were those given bans.

FIFA did not give any details on which matches the individuals had attempted to influence.