FIFA has announced 16 officials from Caribbean associations (St Lucia included), have been charged with breaching rules on ethics in the wake of the bribery scandal that saw Mohamed Bin Hammam banned for life.

According to ESPN Soccernet, “FIFA’s Ethics Committee opened proceedings against the officials following investigations into a special meeting in Trinidad on May 10 and 11, where cash gifts of USD 40,000 were offered or given to associations belonging to the Caribbean Football Union.”

Former President of the St Lucia Football Association (SLFA), Patrick Mathurin, is among the 16 officials who have been charged by FIFA. Mathurin is no longer the SLFA President. He was recently succeeded by Lyndon Cooper following general elections.

While in office, Mathurin has vehemently denied any wrong doing in regards to alleged payments made to SLFA representatives in connection with what he referred to as “a level of bribery allegations.”

At a press conference held at the SLFA head office in late June, Mathurin read out loud a prepared statement and let it be known that at no time was the SLFA or any of its officials under investigation and at no time did the SLFA or its representative, offered any money or any other cash incentive while in Trinidad to vote.

Another official on the list of 16, Colin Klass from Guyana, a member of the CFU executive committee, has been provisionally suspended from all football activity. The 16 officials will face further investigations carried out by the company owned by former FBI chief Louis Freeh.

According to ESPN Soccernet, FIFA said in a statement: “The FIFA Ethics Committee has opened ethics proceedings against 16 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials in regard to apparent violations of the Code of Ethics connected to the investigation of the cases related to the special meeting of the CFU held in Trinidad & Tobago on May 10 and 11, 2011.”

Judge Robert T Torres, a member of the Ethics Committee, has been entrusted by the committee with supervising and directing the investigation. With the approval of the committee, he has engaged Freeh Group International Europe (FGI Europe) and the secretariat of the Ethics Committee to assist the committee with this task. The Ethics Committee will contact the 16 officials to arrange further interviews in connection with these proceedings.

It is important to note that the investigations are still ongoing, and that it is therefore possible that further proceedings could be opened in the future.

The 16 officials charged by FIFA for breaching rules of ethic are: David Hinds, Mark Bob Forde (Barbados); Franka Pickering, Aubrey Liburd (British Virgin Islands); David Frederick (Cayman Islands); Osiris Guzman, Felix Ledesma (Dominican Republic); Colin Klass, Noel Adonis (Guyana); Yves Jean-Bart (Haiti); Anthony Johnson (St Kitts and Nevis); Patrick Mathurin (St Lucia); Joseph Delves, Ian Hypolite (St Vincent and the Grenadines); Richard Groden (Trinidad and Tobago); Hillaren Frederick (US Virgin Islands).