FIFA's ethics committee said on Thursday that former World Cup bid inspector Harold Mayne-Nicholls "repeatedly asked for personal favors from one of the countries that bid to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups," according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. Mayne-Nicholls, who was banned for seven years on July 6, "ignored his responsibility as a high-ranking official," the ethics committee said in a statement as it "informed him of the grounds of the decision." Mayne-Nicholls "could not immediately be reached for comment." He also declined to comment when he was barred last July, "citing committee rules." The ethics committee said Thursday that Mayne-Nicholls, a former head of the Chilean football federation, "was guilty of breaching four articles of its code of ethics," the most serious being the one concerning the "offering and acceptance of gifts." The committee said that after visiting one bidding nation in Sept. '10, Mayne-Nicholls "repeatedly asked for personal favors related to the hosting and training of his relatives (a son, nephew and brother-in-law) at an institution linked with that Bid Committee" (REUTERS, 1/14).
HAWIT PLEADS NOT GUILTY: The AP's Jake Pearson reported former FIFA VP and interim CONCACAF President Alfredo Hawit pleaded not guilty Wednesday in N.Y., one week after he was extradited from Switzerland "where he had been held since his arrest last month in a sprawling corruption case." An attorney entered the plea for Hawit, 64, who stood before Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn wearing a navy blue blazer and listening through a translator. He has been charged with "taking bribes, conspiracy to obstruct justice and other crimes" in connection with a $200M case involving more than 40 people from around the world that has "rocked the sport" (AP, 1/13).
MEXICO TO APPEAL FINE: ESPN's Tom Marshall reported the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) will appeal the fine and warning it received from FIFA for what the organization deemed "homophobic chants from supporters." FMF General Secretary Guillermo Cantu said, "It's an issue that requires more discussion, it is a chant that occurs in games and not just recently." The chant -- "aimed at the opposing team's goalkeeper when taking a goal kick -- has been used in Liga MX and Mexico national team matches for years" (ESPN, 1/14).
