The Appeals Committee of the international federation of football associations (FIFA) has partially upheld an appeal by Kalusha Bwalya, former President of the Zambian football association (FAZ), and has reduced his sanction from two years to time already served. In August last year, FIFA found that Bwalya, who was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), had violated Article 16 (confidentiality) and Article 20 (offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) of the FIFA Code of Ethics. 

A statement outlined that FIFA’s investigation centred on benefits Bwalya received from Mohamed Bin Hammam, whom FIFA banned for life in 2011. Bin Hammam was found to have paid national associations in connection to his 2011 FIFA Presidential campaign, and in connection to the 2010 voting process to appoint the hosts of the 2018 (Russia) and 2022 (Qatar) FIFA World Cups. FIFA did not elaborate on the reasoning for the reduction of the sanction.