Blazer, who in 2013 secretly pleaded guilty in the United States to
bribery and financial offences, was found by FIFA's ethics committee
to have breached rules on loyalty, confidentiality, duty of
disclosure, conflicts of interest, offering and accepting gifts and
bribery and corruption.
"Mr Blazer committed many and various acts of misconduct
continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in
different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and
CONCACAF (which governs the sport in North and Central America and
the Caribbean)," the ethics committee said in statement.
"In his positions as a soccer official, he was a key player in
schemes involving the offer, acceptance, payment and receipt of
undisclosed and illegal payments, bribes and kickbacks as well as
other money-making schemes."
U.S.-based lawyers for Blazer did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
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.
Blazer agreed to provide prosecutors information, turn over any
documents he possessed related to the probe, participate in
undercover activities and testify at trial.
The 70-year-old, who has a curly white beard and has in the past
tipped the scales at more than 400 lb, is now in hospital with
rectal cancer, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.
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Blazer was on FIFA's executive committee which awarded the 2018 and
2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively, a process which is
under investigation by Swiss authorities.
Over the past years, as a critical spotlight has been increasingly
turned on the organization and the awarding of World Cups, FIFA has
handed down bans to a number of officials.
Among them, Asian soccer chief Mohamed Bin Hammam was banned for
life for ethics breaches.
FIFA said on Monday Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led the teams which
inspected bids for 2018 and 2022, was banned from all soccer for
seven years. He said on Twitter he would appeal.
FIFA has said it is cooperating with the investigations. Qatar and
Russia deny wrongdoing and say they are preparing to hold the
tournaments on schedule.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
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