FIFA suspends Bassam

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has suspended the President of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), Bassam Adeel Jaleel.

Bassam, who is accused of embezzling funds received by parliament from several foreign agencies, has been suspended by FIFA for a period of nine months.

Bassam has been suspended by FIFA, numerous other charges have been brought against him and he is currently on trial.

FIFA also announced its decision to suspend Bassam in a statement.

According to the statement, the decision to suspend Bassam was taken by the FIFA Ethics Committee based on section 86 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

The decision followed a FIFA investigation into the FAM raids for corruption, money laundering and other crimes.

Officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) raided FAM on the orders of the Attorney General.

After the raid, officers seized some materials necessary for the investigation.

It is also being investigated whether Bassam, as president of FAM, received donations or contributions from another party.

It was also decided to launch an investigation to find out whether Bassam misused the funds provided to FAM by several agencies.

FIFA has informed Bassam, who is entering his second term as president, that he will be banned from all football activities for a period of nine months.

The police are investigating corruption within the FAM Group, and this issue is currently a major subject of investigation.

According to the investigation part that has been completed so far, the trial against Bassam is continuing and is currently in the preliminary proceedings.

Bassam has so far faced two charges in this case: money laundering and fraud. In January, charges of fraud and money laundering were brought before the Criminal Court.

The Attorney General’s Office has also demanded that the state hand over the $10,000 laundered in this case.

Prosecutors said in court that the cases currently under investigation include a $1 million case and several other cases.

In April, the PG Office alleged that Bassam had embezzled a significant amount of money received by the federation for his own expenses. According to information provided by the PG Office, the International Football Association (FIFA) had provided FAM with $12.4 million in aid between 2018 and October 2023.

The PG office further disclosed that FAM had also raised funds through the government and by leasing fields.

The PG Office also alleged that FAM converted FIFA funds deposited in US dollars into Maldivian Rufiyaa without following any rules and procedures and without keeping proper records of the transactions.

The office revealed that Bassam used FAM funds to purchase real estate, made expenses for companies registered in his name using FAM funds, and even used the funds to cover family expenses and travel abroad.

It has also come to light that Bassam is also linked to the MMPRC money laundering case, which is also being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

According to the PG’s office, the FAM Executive Committee is responsible for all decisions. The Executive Committee did not care when FAM funds were deposited into the private accounts of its employees and did not investigate the matter at all.