FIFA ethics opens case against Qataris

Global soccer governing body FIFA says its ethics watchdog has opened proceedings against high-ranking Qatari soccer official Saoud Al-Mohannadi.

"The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, under its chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert, has opened formal adjudicatory proceedings against the Vice-President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) and former General Secretary of the QFA, Saoud Al-Mohannadi, based on the final report submitted by the investigatory chamber," Zurich-based FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

In August, a FIFA investigator recommended Mohannadi be banned from the game for at least two-and-a-half years over allegations of non-cooperation with an inquiry.

The recommendation did not give details on the inquiry.

The FIFA watchdog only said the inquiry was not linked to the awarding of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar - one of the cases at the centre of wider investigations and allegations that have rocked the soccer organisation since last year.