FIFA Ethics Committee wants nine-year Valcke ban

Valcke has been linked to a scheme that intended to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at above their face value prior to the contract being cancelled before any were sold.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke

The investigatory chamber of FIFA's Ethics Committee has called for suspended general secretary Jerome Valcke to be banned for nine years over allegations of corruption.

Valcke has been linked to a scheme that intended to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at above their face value prior to the contract being cancelled before any were sold. 

Valcke – the right-hand man to suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter since 2007 – denies the allegations made by former Israeli footballer and tickets and hospitality consultant Benny Alon. The investigatory chamber initially handed Valcke a 90-day ban, which is due to expire on Tuesday, but committee chairman Cornel Borbely called on that suspension to be extended by 45 days.

Borbely also recommended a nine-year ban and a fine when the investigation concludes. "In his final report, the chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee recommended imposing a sanction of a nine-year ban and a fine of CHF 100,000 on Mr Valcke," read a FIFA statement.

"Until a formal decision is taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Mr Valcke is presumed innocent."