Fifa quartet accused by Lord Triesman cleared

Four Fifa executive committee members accused by former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman of seeking favours for votes have been cleared.

Triesman, who ran the FA and its 2018 World Cup bid until last May, claimed that Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi had engaged in "improper and unethical" conduct.

But an independent report commissioned by the FA exonerated the quartet.

"All four are completely clean," said Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke.

"I have just got the FA report... and I hope Fifa will agree to make it public because all the people here...are completely clean of all the allegations made by David Triesman a few weeks ago.

"I'm glad the person appointed by the FA took time to hear not only Triesman but also David Dein, Simon Johnson, Andy Anson and other people who were part of the bid."

Triesman, a member of the House of Lords, accused the quartet during a parliamentary inquiry into the race to host the 2018 World Cup, won by Russia last December, during which England secured only one vote other than the one from their own delegate.

Among the claims, Warner, a Fifa vice-president and Concacaf president from Trinidad and Tobago, was said to have asked for money - suggested to be about $4.1 m (£2.5m) - to build an education centre in Trinidad and for about $820,000 (£500,000) to buy Haiti's World Cup TV rights.

That prompted the FA to carry out its own probe into the claims, and the findings were submitted to world football's governing body during the week.

However Valke said Dave Richards, the chairman of the Premier League, disputed Triesman's account, adding: "Dave Richards has not said he heard Jack Warner ask for money in his presence, or ask for funds to be channelled through him."

Triesman also said that Leoz, of Paraguay, asked for an honorary knighthood - a request the FA report stated was only made by people in Leoz's entourage to people working for Triesman.

And Valcke said there was also no evidence to support claims Makudi of Thailand had allegedly wanted to receive money from English TV to broadcast a planned friendly match against the country.

Triesman had also claimed that Teixeira, a Brazilian, asked him to "come and tell me what you have got for me", something Teixeira - along with the other three accused - denied.

In a separate case, Warner was suspended by Fifa on Sunday in connection with allegations of bribery in Mohamed bin Hammam's bid to unseat Sepp Blatter in Wednesday's presidential elections on Wednesday.

Bin Hammam, who had already pulled out of the presidential race, was also suspended.