Former Venezuelan FA boss and cronies sanctioned for graft

October 14 – A former president of Venezuela’s football federation (VFV) has been banned by FIFA for five years and fined more than $410,000 after being found guilty of financial corruption.

Laureano Gonzalez (pictured), who led FVF between 2017 and 2020, was sanctioned by FIFA’s ethics committee for misappropriation and misuse of the federation’s and FIFA funds through a “fictitious invoicing scheme”.

Gonzalez’s offences were linked to his position on a FIFA-appointed normalisation committee. Four other members of the panel were also sanctioned.

Carlos Teran, a current member of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, received a two-year ban and a CHF 10,000  fine for approving and accepting “undue pecuniary advantages in the form of additional monthly payments”.

Bernardo Anor Guillamon, Luis Eduardo Fernandez and Gilberto Velazco Ramirez were found guilty of approving and accepting undue pecuniary advantages in the form of additional monthly payments, and conflicts of interest among other charges.

One-year bans for all three were suspended for two-year probation periods.

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