The former general secretary of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Tai Nicholas has been banned from the sport for eight years after being found guilty of misappropriating funds and accepting bribes.
General secretary of the Oceania Football Confederation Tai Nicholas. Photo: Photosport
In a statement, football's world governing body FIFA said an investigation found that between 2014 and 2017 Nicholas misappropriated money in relation to the OFC's Home of Football complex in Auckland.
The complex went $US6.5 million over budget and was delivered two years late.
Before his appointment as OFC general secretary in 2004, Nicholas was the president of the Cook Islands Football Association.
In March, FIFA banned Papua New Guinea's former OFC president David Chung from football for six-and-a-half years and fined him $US100,000 for offering and accepting gifts as well as a conflict of interest.
Chung quit as OFC president in April last year after a FIFA audit into the project. Nicholas stepped down as OFC general secretary in January 2018.
FIFA also found that Nicholas accepted and offered a variety of undue benefits to football officials and other individuals.
Along with the eight year ban Nicholas has been fined $US50,000.