Former FPF President Suspended for Life by FIFA Ethics Commission
The Independent Ethics Committee of FIFA has sanctioned Manuel Burga, former president of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF), for "participating in a series of bribes and accepting undue pecuniary benefits".
Burga Seoane, who was also a member of the Executive Committee of CONMEBOL and the FIFA Development Commission, "will not be able to participate in any football-related activity, and has been ordered to pay a fine of 1,000,000 CHF (1.1 million dollars)", the world football governing body said in a statement.
The FIFA justice system holds the former Peruvian official responsible for "participating in a series of bribes and accepting undue pecuniary benefits".
After the strong sanction became official, Manuel Burga released a statement addressing the public opinion. The former official denounces irregularities in his hearing before FIFA and states that he will turn to international entities in an attempt to overturn the lifetime suspension.
The former FPF president recalled that his "innocence was confirmed in the United States of America, in a process for which I was unjustly deprived of my freedom".
"Just as I am not guilty legally, I am not guilty ethically either, but it seems that there are instructions to punish without properly evaluating the evidence", Burga adds in his statement.
"During the hearing, with audio and translation issues, a President who only gave the floor and disconnected his image, two members in a room so big that they couldn't be seen, and only two questions from a Commission member (about the signing of a contract and whether the witnesses in the US trial committed perjury by accusing me). That is, during the hearing, we only faced each other for almost three hours, the instructor, my lawyer, and myself", details the former official.
"It is incredible to see how the ethics committees of the football system have different parameters to act depending on whether it is the case of a coach, the current FIFA president, or the presidents of some federations, where similar ethical criteria are not applied, sanctioning those who have been recognized as innocent (as is my case) and exonerating or 'clearing' confessed guilty parties or offenders", Burga Seoane continues.
"As proof of this, in the hearing on March 29, 2023, the falsehood of the testimonies was clearly proven and the theories copied from the criminal proceedings in the United States were destroyed, whose file is the only evidence on which the alleged and denied ethical violations are based, without presenting any additional evidence or document and without absolving the arguments of my defense, which were forceful and only warranted the exoneration of charges. Surely for this reason, today they have announced the sanction and in 60 days they will communicate to us why through the justifications", he also states in the statement.
"In addition, we must point out that they have endorsed the lies of their star witness, the convicted and confessed criminal Alejandro Burzaco, ignoring the information we shared with the Commission, in which statements from jury members of other FIFAGATE processes recently concluded, where Mr. Burzaco was also the star witness for the prosecution, have declared that 'they did not find it credible'. This information is also public", he adds.
Finally, Manuel Burga, "convinced of the strength of my arguments and the violations to the process that FIFA has committed in my case, turning it into the result of the application of an instruction," announced that he will "turn to the corresponding entities, which, as impartial entities, will reverse this injustice."
