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FIFA bans Bin Hammam aide

Lausanne - FIFA on Wednesday suspended Najeeb Chirakal, an aide to ex-Asian soccer chief Mohamed bin Hammam, for failing to cooperate with an investigation into the Qatari by world football's governing body.

Chirakal, FIFA said, was "a football official and as such covered by the FIFA Code of Ethics 2012".

He was "banned by the FIFA Ethics Committee from taking part in all football-related activity, at any level, due to his lack of collaboration with the ongoing investigation proceedings opened against Mohamed bin Hammam".

"This failure to cooperate constitutes a breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics. The ban is effective immediately and will last for two months or until Chirakal cooperates with these proceedings as requested, whichever is earlier," FIFA added.

Chirakal had failed to respond after having been contacted by the FIFA ethics committee asking him to provide information and documents.

Qatar's Bin Hammam, 63, has been suspended from football activities for more than a year, after FIFA's ethics committee found him guilty of bribery during his election campaign to replace the world body's president, Sepp Blatter.

The bribery case was seen as shedding a light on murky practices inside FIFA, and prompted new questions about Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, in which Bin Hammam played a role. The bid, alongside others, is now under investigation.

However in July, Bin Hammam's lifetime ban from football was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on grounds of insufficient evidence.

The Qatari multi-millionaire remains provisionally suspended by both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (of which he was president) pending investigations into the Asian body's financial dealings.

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