LUASANNE, May 17 — A five-year ban issued to ex-Thai football chief Worawi Makudi for "forgery and falsification” was cut by 18 months on appeal yesterday, Fifa said.

Worawi was suspended from all football-related activites in October 2016 following his conviction of forgery in a Thai court and for failing to cooperate with a Fifa investigation.

Worawi was a Fifa executive committee member for 18 years until May 2015 — including for its 2010 vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

After his conviction, a millionaire former Thai police chief won the election to head up Thai football.

Worawi was found guilty by a Thai court in 2015 of forging documents during a re-election campaign as head of the Football Association of Thailand, although the country’s Appeals Court overturned the conviction last year.

He must also pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (RM43,113) that was part of the original Fifa sanction. — AFP