Qatar football official’s ban lifted by FIFA appeal committee

A senior Qatar football official has won an appeal against a one-year ban from the sport by FIFA’s ethics committee.

The case against Qatar Football Association vice chairman Saoud Al Mohannadi meant he was not eligible to run for the newly reformed FIFA Council body in September.

Read: Senior Qatari official banned from FIFA Council elections

The official was accused of not cooperating during an undisclosed investigation.

FIFA has given little detail of what it involved but has specified it is not related to the controversial awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Following the lifting of the ban last week, FIFA said in a statement that there was not enough proof of wrongdoing to satisfy its appeal committee.

“Therefore, the one-year ban imposed by the adjudicatory chamber on Mr Al-Mohannadi, which entered into force on 16 November 2016, and the fine of CHF20,000 ($19,813) have been lifted.”

Qatar Football Association maintained there was no legitimate basis behind the charges when they were imposed in November.

In Al Mohannadi’s absence from the vote in September, top Asian football officials refused to participate resulting in a new date set for May.

However, Reuters reports that the official has already missed the deadline to take part.