LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Former FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is at the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging his ban for forgery ahead of a Thailand soccer federation election.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012 file photo, FIFA Executive Committee member Worawi Makudi speaks to reporters during a press conference at the office of the Football Association of Thailand in Bangkok. Former FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is at the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging his ban for forgery ahead of a Thailand soccer federation election, it was reported on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. The former Thai federation president is appealing against a 3 1/2-year FIFA ban that expires in April 2020. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
Makudi said outside the court on Thursday he was “very confident. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The former Thai federation president appealed against a 3 1/2-year ban by FIFA that expires in April 2020. He was also fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,100).
FIFA’s ethics committee found him guilty of forgery, falsifying documents, and not cooperating with investigators.
Makudi was alleged to have altered federation statutes before his 2013 re-election campaign.
He was convicted in a Bangkok criminal court, though said on Thursday that case was resolved in his favor.
“You know very clearly that the court in Thailand already decided I won the case, OK?” he said.
Makudi was a long-time ally of Qatar’s Mohamed bin Hammam when sitting on FIFA’s ruling committee for 18 years until 2015. He was voted out by Asian federations.
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