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 The regional body, known as CONCACAF, had put Sanz on "indefinite
leave" from his job as general secretary following the indictment on
corruption charges of the body's president Jeffrey Webb in May. Sanz
was also "provisionally suspended" from all football-related
activities by FIFA in June.
"I received a letter earlier this week from outside counsel for
CONCACAF informing me that Mr. Sanz was being terminated effective
August 3," Joseph DeMaria, Sanz's lawyer told Reuters in an email.
Sanz is the second CONCACAF general secretary to depart amid
corruption allegations. His predecessor Chuck Blazer, who held the
position from 1990 until 2011, was banned from football for life by
FIFA last month after he pleaded guilty to various
corruption-related charges.
Through a 2013 U.S. plea agreement, Blazer become a cooperating
witness in the U.S. probe, which has engulfed FIFA and pressured the
governing body's President, Sepp Blatter, to step down from February
next year.
In March 2014, CONCACAF announced that Sanz had been diagnosed with
leukaemia. "Mr. Sanz's primary focus right now is his health," said
DeMaria.
"My job right now is to protect his access to health insurance,
which is vital for any person who is suffering from potentially
terminal cancer. I am sure that the rest of his contract rights will
be resolved in due course," DeMaria added.
INTERNAL PROBE
Sources told Reuters on Friday that FIFA is now conducting an
internal inquiry into the corruption allegations.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a U.S. law firm, is conducting
the investigation, which is running parallel to the criminal probes
by authorities in the United States and Switzerland, the sources
said. The results of the investigation are expected to be shared
with the authorities, they added.
Sanz has not been charged by the U.S. authorities but the indictment
issued by federal prosecutors in May said that "Co-Conspirator #4"
was appointed CONCACAF's general secretary in July 2012, after
serving as vice president of Traffic USA, a sports marketing company
- biographical detail which match Sanz's career moves.
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Traffic Sports and CONCACAF feature heavily in the indictment which
includes reference to several television rights deals and
allegations of kickbacks and bribes worth more than $150 million.
Traffic Sports USA's President Aaron Davidson was among the 14
soccer officials and executives who were indicted in late May on
bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.
In July, CONCACAF announced that it had ended it's "corporate
partnership" with Traffic Sports.
In the absence of Webb, who has pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges
of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering,
CONCACAF is being run by a special committee.
American Ted Howard, who was Sanz's deputy, is currently the body's
acting general secretary.
FIFA has yet to announce the 11 members of a new reform task force
that is being created to deal with the aftermath of the corruption
scandal but on Friday several names began to emerge.
A source close to CONCACAF, said it was nominating U.S. lawyer Samir
Ghandi and Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Martin
Howell)
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