FIFA imposes life ban on former CONCACAF official Sanz

FIFA has imposed a life ban for bribery on Enrique Sanz, the former general secretary of North American football body CONCACAF.

Sanz was “Co-Conspirator No. 3” in a US Department of Justice indictment in 2015, who allegedly arranged and took bribes linked to commercial deals for international football tournaments with other officials linked to FIFA.

Though American federal prosecutors never publicly charged or sentenced Sanz, they alleged he also took part in bribe schemes working for sports agency Traffic USA before joining CONCACAF in 2012.

The published indictment said he obtained an “expensive painting from an art gallery in New York” as a bribe.

FIFA says its ethics judges charged Sanz with bribery during his 2012-15 work with CONCACAF. He was found guilty and fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($100,000).

In 2014, the Colombia-born official took a leave of absence from CONCACAF, which also covers Central America and the Caribbean, while being treated for leukemia.