FIFA removes judge from duty after arrest

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Kahn tipped to be Bayern Munich’s next president – reports

BERN, Switzerland, Nov 21, (Agencies): The credibility of FIFA’s reshaped ethics committee took a hit Wednesday after a leading judge was arrested on suspicion of corruption in Malaysia and later removed as deputy chairman.

Sundra Rajoo has been taken off cases while under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for financial wrongdoing in his job leading an arbitration service.

“(Rajoo) will not be involved in any further activities of the adjudicatory chamber (while under investigation),” FIFA said in a statement.

The decision was imposed “with immediate effect” by judging panel chairman Vassilios Skouris, FIFA said.

Skouris was picked 18 months ago to replace German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, whose ouster was engineered by FIFA President Gianni Infantino after falling out of favor with the new leadership. FIFA’s lead ethics prosecutor, Cornel Borbely, was also forced from office in May 2017.

One year ago, Rajoo passed an integrity check to be appointed as one of two deputy chairmen of the judging panel. He was proposed by the Asian Football Confederation, which is based in Kuala Lumpur along with the Asian International Arbitration Centre, led by Rajoo until Wednesday.

Although Rajoo is currently hanging on to his FIFA role, he resigned from his position with the arbitration service on Wednesday, his lawyer, Cheow Wee, told The Associated Press.

Rajoo’s lawyer said his client had been detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission after returning from FIFA business in Zurich the previous evening. A court refused a request for a seven-day remand order against Rajoo, and he was later released unconditionally, Cheow said.

“The judge agreed with our position that he (Rajoo) has diplomatic immunity and privileges,” Cheow said. “He cannot be arrested nor detained, and isn’t subjected to our criminal jurisdiction.”

The MACC sought Rajoo’s remand to protect and continue its investigation into allegations the ethics judge accepted and used his office for financial favors.

The MACC could not immediately be reached for comment.

Since Rajoo joined FIFA, ethics judges have passed several life bans on soccer officials implicated in bribery by a sprawling US Department of Justice investigation.

The FIFA ethics committee has struggled to gain credibility and demonstrate its statutory independence since wholesale changes in personnel in 2017. While Skouris is a former president of the European Court of Justice, FIFA lead prosecutor Maria Claudia Rojas has been criticized in a European lawmaker’s report for lacking experience in leading investigations.

In the May 2017 changes, Infantino also oversaw the removal of the head of FIFA’s governance panel, who oversaw integrity checks on senior officials.

The FIFA ethics committee also was tainted by corruption prior to Infantino’s perceived purge. In 2016, Uruguayan lawyer Juan Pedro Damiani resigned as an ethics judge after being implicated in the Panama Papers corruption case. He had been a holdover from FIFA judicial bodies during Sepp Blatter’s 18-year presidency.

Former Germany captain Oliver Kahn is emerging as the favourite to be the next president of Bayern Munich — 15 years after he first put himself forward for the job.

In 2003, while he was still keeping goal for Bayern and Germany, Kahn said in an interview that he “could not imagine a better man than me” to one day take charge of Bayern.

Current Bayern president Uli Hoeness, 66, is due for re-election in November 2019. According to magazine Sports Bild, Kahn, 49, is Hoeness’ prefered candidate to replace him when he eventually stands down.

The pair have stayed in contact since Kahn retired in 2008 after making 632 appearances for Bayern in 14 years, winning the Bundesliga title a joint record eight times.

Neither Kahn nor the club has commented on the speculation.

Former Bayern and Germany captain Lothar Matthaeus says Kahn would be the ideal candidate to succeed Hoeness, who has spent nearly 50 year at the club as a player, then team manager and eventually president.

“He (Kahn) is a face of Bayern Munich, carries the club’s DNA within him and is a connoisseur of football,” wrote Matthaeus in German daily Bild.

“He was always ambitious and has continued to educate himself, even in financial matters.

“I trust him to lead Bayern in the future.”

Kahn made the last of his 86 appearances for Germany in 2006 and has been working as a TV pundit since.

 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was formally warned by the Football Association on Wednesday over comments he made about referee Anthony Taylor before the Manchester derby.

Guardiola went against FA rules by discussing the suitability of the appointment of the official, who is from a Manchester suburb, for the clash.

Although Guardiola backed Taylor and dismissed accusations of potential bias, managers are not permitted to talk about referees ahead of matches.

 Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho was fined £50,000 ($64,000) in November 2016 for talking about Taylor ahead of a clash with Liverpool but he was already on notice, having previously been warned for a similar offence while Chelsea manager.

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