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Italian FA president Carlo Tavecchio banned by FIFA for six months

FIFA has announced they are also going to enforce a ban imposed by UEFA on Italian Football Association (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio for a period of six months.

Tavecchio was declared "ineligible for any position as a UEFA official for a period of six months starting from the communication of this decision" by UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) on Oct. 7.

The sanction was in relation to racial remarks the 71-year-old made during his successful campaign to be elected FIGC president.

Almost a month after that decision, FIFA has now decided to follow suit by banning Tavecchio from performing any duty for world football's governing body for the same period of time.

"The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanction imposed by the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) of UEFA on Carlo Tavecchio, president of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), which was announced on Oct. 7 2014," read a FIFA statement.

"As such, Mr Tavecchio is ineligible for any position as a FIFA official for a period of six months starting from Oct. 7 2014. The case relates to racist comments made by Mr Tavecchio during his FIGC presidential election campaign."

The FIGC launched its own internal investigation, but dropped the case weeks before UEFA delivered the results of their own investigation.

Tavecchio was elected FIGC president in spite of widespread calls for him to pull out of the running and condemnation of his comments.

But Tavecchio maintains he is not racist and that his comments, while acknowledging they were a mistake, had been misinterpreted. He accepted UEFA's sanctions without appeal and has already been informed of FIFA's decision.