FIFA Appeals Committee Reduces Derrick’s Ban

Former president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and Antiguan, Gordon Derrick, has had his six-year ban reduced to four years by FIFA’s Appeal Committee.
Derrick, who was general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), was banned by the sport’s world governing body in 2017.
In a statement, Zurich-based FIFA said the case centered on “alleged conflicts of interest, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, mismanagement of funds, abuse of position and disloyalty.”
The ban was originally handed down to Derrick in September 2017 meaning that the Appeals Committee decision took over 10 months to be heard.
The Antiguan was first barred from contesting the 2016 election for the CONCACAF presidency in 2016 that saw Canadian Victor Montagliani taking the job.
“The FIFA Appeal Committee has partially confirmed the decision taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee, which was notified to Mr. Derrick on 19 September 2017, reducing the ban from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level imposed on Mr. Derrick from six to four years, and the fine from CHF 30,000 to CHF 15,000,” said a FIFA statement.
The FIFA Appeal Committee upheld the decision against Derrick on his “infringing articles 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits), 19 (Conflicts of interest), 15 (Loyalty) and 13 par. 4 (General rules of conduct) of the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE)…
“However, the Appeal Committee did not concur with the adjudicatory chamber’s findings of Mr. Derrick being guilty of additional violations of articles 41 (Obligation of the parties to collaborate) and 18 (Duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting) of the FCE during the course of the proceedings.”
The Appeal Committee reduced the sanction “following its finding that fewer articles had been infringed, and taking into account all mitigating circumstances of the case.” Derrick still has three years and six weeks left on his ban, and a CHF15,000 fine to pay.