FIFA bans Qatari election candidate for one year

A Qatari candidate for election to FIFA's ruling council has been banned from all football duty for one year for refusing to cooperate with ethics investigators.

Saoud al-Mohannadi, the vice president of Qatar's Football Association (QFA), was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,900).

Mohannadi "did not cooperate with the investigatory chamber in the proceedings against a third party", FIFA ethics committee judges said in a statement.

FIFA did not specify the target of the inquiry, but it was not connected with allegations related to Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup.

The ban blocks Mohannadi from a 28 February election to represent Asia on the strategy-setting FIFA Council.

The vote was scheduled in September but delayed in an apparent protest by Asian members of FIFA against the ethics case.

Last month, Mohannadi was barred by FIFA from standing as an Asian Football Confederation delegate to the FIFA Council at an AFC Congress.

In protest the congress, attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino at a luxury hotel in Goa, India, last month came to a premature end minutes after it opened as members protested at Al-Mohannadi's exclusion.

The QFA vice president has denied any wrongdoing.

In August, QFA expressed full support for him after a FIFA investigator recommended his ban from the game.

"He as well as the QFA are both confident that a full and fair review of the matter will confirm that he has cooperated extensively and candidly with the ethics committee and that any charges against him are without legitimate basis," QFA said in a statement at the time, adding that it fully supported his candidacy for the next FIFA council election.