General secretary gets life ban from FIFA

Costas Takkas
Costas Takkas

ZURICH, Switzerland, CMC – Former general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association Costas Takkas has received a life ban from FIFA.

Takkas was among three football officials who received the sentence from the sport’s governing body, with the others being former chairman of the North American Soccer League Aaron Davidson and Colombian ex-FIFA match agent and sports consultant Miguel Trujillo.

Takkas was an advisor to former disgraced CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb who was banned from football by FIFA’s ethics committee in 2015.

The trio, who were found guilty of bribery and corruption, will also have to pay fines of one million Swiss Francs (US $1.03 million) each.

In Brooklyn federal court, Davidson pleaded guilty to racketeering and wire fraud, Takkas admitted money laundering and Trujillo pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud.

The 61-year-old Takkas received a 15-month prison sentence last year and faced being deported from the United States.

It is unclear if FIFA has power to enforce the fines, though ethics judges have typically imposed large financial penalties in cases arising from the sprawling U.S. federal probe.