FIFA has officially eradicated corruption. All it took was pressing the delete key.

Key points: FIFA's new code of ethics does not include the word corruption

FIFA's new code of ethics does not include the word corruption Defamation has been introduced as a new offence

Defamation has been introduced as a new offence Bribery still prohibited, but investigators will only have a decade to uncover it

Football officials and players will find the word "corruption" missing from the latest version of the code of ethics governing their conduct. They will also discover how to now avoid being banned for paying and receiving bribes.

Corruption was scrubbed as an official misdemeanour during secret meetings where executives thrashed out the first overhaul of the code since a wave of scandals left football's governing body "clinically dead" by 2015.

That was the phrase used by Gianni Infantino during a speech at this year's World Cup in which he outlined his achievements in cleaning up FIFA.

But in two years as FIFA president, Mr Infantino has been accused of violating governance rules and forcing out officials who threatened his position.

It will be now be even easier for FIFA to banish critics.

A new offence has been introduced in the ethics code — defamation. There are no specific examples, providing flexibility for the ethics committee to decide on the burden of proof — as with all cases.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (left) has played a prominent role since replacing Sepp Blatter in 2016. ( Reuters: Kai Pfaffenbach )

"Persons bound by this code are forbidden from making any public statements of a defamatory nature towards FIFA and/or towards any other person bound by this code in the context of FIFA events," section 22.2 of the new code states.

Those found to have defamed FIFA will be banned from any football-related activities for up to two years and they can be booted out for five years for repeated "serious cases."

The ethics code was first introduced in 2004 by former president Sepp Blatter, but it was that code that ended up getting Mr Blatter expelled from the FIFA presidency for financial misconduct in 2015.

Blatter's toppling came amid the fallout from American prosecutors indicting dozens of football officials and entities for corruption — the concept now erased by FIFA from its principle English-language ethics documents.

Sepp Blatter was removed from the FIFA presidency after 17 years in the role. ( Reuters: Christian Hartmann )

Bribery is still prohibited in the ethics code, but the ability to prosecute cases has been weakened.

The 2012 code said "prosecution for bribery and corruption" was not subject to a "limitation period." However long it took investigators to uncover offences, you could still be sanctioned.

But section 12.1 of the new code states: "Bribery, misappropriation of funds and manipulation of football matches or competitions may no longer be prosecuted after a lapse of 10 years."

Additionally, the code now states that ethics prosecutors have five years to complete cases into other general breaches of the code — half the previous time permitted to uncover wrongdoing.

The new code allows lead ethics prosecutor Maria Claudia Rojas to enter into plea bargains to resolve cases that do not involve bribery, misappropriation of funds or match fixing.

"The new FIFA is a democracy it is not a dictatorship," Mr Infantino told FIFA members during an address in 2017. "It is a transparent organisation … a deeply honest organisation."

When asked by Associated Press for clarity on the new policies, FIFA said the changes were based on proposals from the ethics committee.

AP/ABC