Former FIFA vice president Reynald Temarii banned for eight years for taking money to cover legal bills

FIFA has banned former vice president and general director of the Tahiti Football Association Reynald Temarii for eight years for taking money from powerbroker Mohamed bin Hammam, the world's governing soccer body announced Wednesday.

Temarii allegedly took the money to pay legal fees in a corruption case that was linked to the 2022 World Cup vote.

The ban prohibits Temarii from participating in any football-related activities at national and international levels during that time.

FIFA’s ethics committee ruled that Temarii broke five sections of its ethics code after accepting a $343,000 payment from Bin Hammam in January 2011, following a meeting months earlier in Malaysia.

Temarii, who was on the FIFA Executive Committee before becoming vice president, was already serving a one-year suspension for breaching rules on loyalty and confidentiality in giving reporters from The Sunday Times in London information about World Cup votes.

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FIFA says Temarii met with bin Hammam, who was then a member of the FIFA Executive Committee and the Asian Football Confederation President, to ask for help to cover legal bills for the appeal of his suspension.

Part of the Temarii’s punishment was not being allowed to cast votes for who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals.

Russia and Qatar were cleared of any corruption in their winning bids, despite evidence that eight of the nine bids had engaged in some sort of improper conduct.

- Scooby Axson