Qatar's Football Association said on Saturday it fully backed its vice president, Saoud Al-Mohannadi, a day after a FIFA investigator recommended he be banned from the game for at least 2 1/2 years over allegations of non-cooperation with an inquiry. A FIFA statement did not detail what the inquiry concerned but said it was not linked to the awarding of the 2022 soccer World Cup to Qatar - one of the targets of a series of wider investigations into corruption within FIFA that have rocked global soccer's governing body since last year. The investigator also recommended a 20,000-Swiss-franc ($20,676) fine against Al-Mohannadi, in addition to the ban. Al-Mohannadi, who is also the former secretary general of the Qatar Football Association (QFA), has not yet seen the FIFA report and so is unable to comment on it, a QFA statement said. "However, he as well as the QFA are both confident that a full and fair review of the matter will confirm that he has cooperated extensively and candidly with the ethics committee and that any charges against him are without legitimate basis." The QFA also said it fully supported the candidacy of Al-Mohannadi for the next FIFA Council election. The FIFA investigator's report will now go to the adjudicatory chamber of the Swiss-based FIFA Ethics Committee. Switzerland has opened a criminal investigation into the decisions to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
