A member of the South American Football Confederation’s (CONMEBOL) disciplinary committee resigned on Tuesday and said South American soccer’s reputation has been tarnished further after the region’s governing body reduced Boca Juniors’ stadium ban for crowd violence from eight games to two.
Uruguayan Adrian Leiza, vice-president of CONMEBOL’s disciplinary committee, said the executive committee’s ruling was politically motivated.
Argentine club Boca had been ordered to play eight games without their supporters after an incident in May last year when fans attacked players of archrivals River Plate with mustard gas during their Copa Libertadores clash in Buenos Aires.
The controversy is the latest blow to the South American confederation, which has been swept up in the scandal surrounding world governing body FIFA.
US indictments against 41 defendants, including senior soccer officials from South and Central America, include schemes that involved hundreds of millions of US dollars in bribes and kickbacks sought for marketing and television rights to tournaments and matches.
CONMEBOL’s headquarters in Paraguay were raided last month after a request for cooperation from US justice officials.
On Monday, FIFA said it had cut off funding to the corruption-hit soccer confederations in the Americas.
Leiza told Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports that he had resigned following the decision to reduce Boca’s ban.
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