The world football association FIFA's ethics body on Thursday suspended two senior officials for one to three years, in a bid to stifle damaging fallout over misdealings in the race to host football's 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Claudio Sulser, president of the ethics committee of world football’s governing body, said Amos Adamu, of Nigeria, was banned from FIFA’s executive committee for three years and Oceanian football chief Reynald Temarii for one year.

Neither of them will be able to take part in deciding the host nations for one of sports biggest events next month, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said.

Both men were fined and four other football officials from Africa and the Pacific, two of whom who serve on FIFA disciplinary and refereeing committees, were also sanctioned for violations of the governing body’s ethics code.

Fines
Mr Temarii, the FIFA vice president, was prohibited from exercising any activity relative football for one year, and fined 3700 euro. Mr Adamu was prohibited from footballing activities for three years, and fined 7400 euro.

FIFA has been trying to salvage the credibility of the selection process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups after a controversial sting by undercover reporters for a British newspaper raised claims of vote-buying.

"When someone joins FIFA they take on obligations and you don’t have the right to mistakes," Mr Sulser told journalists, underlining that officials must be "beyond reproach."

"The damage to FIFA's image is great," he underlined, while also sharply criticising selective reporting by the newspaper behind the allegations, The Sunday Times.

Collusion
Mr Adamu and Mr Temarii had been suspended temporarily last month pending the full probe this week, which also covered newspaper claims of collusion between bidders, notably Qatar and Spain-Portugal. On Thursday, Mr Sulser said the ethics panel "did not find sufficient" evidence to back the allegation.

England, Russia and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium are in the running to host the 2018 World Cup while Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are bidding for 2022.

Appeal
Mr Temarii's lawyer said he was sanctioned for intervening in bidding for football's 2018 and 2022 World Cup, but cleared of corruption.

"He was cleared of all suspicions of corruption, nevertheless the ethics committee found that the fact of having discussed his vote and choice of vote for World Cup 2018 and 2022 is contrary to ethics," Geraldine Lesieur added.

Mrs Lesieur said she intended to appeal. The lawyer also said that Mr Temarii has taken legal action against Britain’s Sunday Times for libel.