GENEVA
As the investigations on the attribution of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups continue, the FIFA Ethics Committee on Monday has banned World Cup bids inspector Harold Mayne-Nicholls from all football-related activities for seven years.
FIFA had handed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively, in bidding processes that have been heavily criticized.
"The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert, has decided to ban Harold Mayne-Nicholls, former chairman of the Bid Evaluation Group for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups and former Chilean Football Association President, from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for a period of seven years," FIFA said in a statement on Monday.
Harold Mayne-Nicholls was under investigation since last year. Details on the reason for the ban have yet to be made public.
Qatar's World Cup bid was especially mired in controversy due to the country's climate, which makes playing in summer almost impossible.
