PROFESSOR Dr Sundra Rajoo has been suspended by the FIFA Ethics Committee adjudicatory chamber as its deputy chairman, pending investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission into graft allegations.

In a statement released today, adjudicatory chamber chairman Vassilios Skouris said Sundra’s suspension will take immediate effect.

“The chamber has decided with immediate effect that Mr Rajoo will not be involved in any further activities of the adjudicatory chamber,” Skouris said in the statement.

“This decision shall apply while the aforementioned investigation is pending.”

Sundra is one of the five deputy chairmen of the independent Ethics Committee, which one of FIFA’s judicial bodies. 

It is primarily responsible for investigating possible infringements of the FIFA Code of Ethics. Since 2012, it has been divided into two separate chambers – the investigatory chamber and the adjudicatory chamber.

The adjudicatory chamber has to review the reports of the investigatory chamber and decide whether a case should proceed or closed.

The adjudicatory chamber also has the right to return a report to the investigatory chamber or carry out further investigations on its own behalf. 

The decision by the FIFA Ethics Committee came less than 24 hours after Sundra was arrested by the MACC on Tuesday on claims he used government funds to induce ministers to extend his contract with the Asian International Arbitration Centre. 

The allegations were made in an anonymous letter addressed to the MACC and copied to Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, Inspector-General of Police Fuzi Harun, Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Malaysian Bar president George Varughese and other senior government officials.

MACC, however, failed to secure a remand order from the Putrajaya magistrates’ court which ruled that the anti-graft body has no jurisdiction to detain Sundra, an officer protected by the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1992 (Act 485).

MACC had said that it will pursue investigations into Sundra despite his special privileges.

Sundra resigned as director of AIAC yesterday, two days after the MACC raided his office and questioned the staff.

Prominent lawyer Vinayak Pradhan was made acting director of the AIAC. – November 22, 2018.