BERLIN: Former Thai football chief Worawi Makudi saw his ban from the sport slightly reduced - to three and a half years from five - on Wednesday after a ruling by world body Fifa's appeal committee.
Worawi had received the original ban from Fifa's ethics committee in October 2016. That was after he had been handed a suspended 16-month prison sentence by the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court for altering documents ahead of the Thailand football association's presidential election in 2013.
Last year he was declared not guilty of forgery and falsification by an appeals court, but Fifa still maintains there were infringements on their code of ethics.
"The Fifa Appeal Committee has partially confirmed the decision taken... on 10 October 2016, reducing the ban from all football-related activities... imposed on Mr Makudi from five years to three years and six months, and confirming the fine of CHF 10,000 (321,000 baht)," it said in a statement.
"While reducing the sanction imposed by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, the Appeal Committee agreed with the principles and arguments presented by the adjudicatory chamber."
The ban came into force on Oct 18, 2016.
Worawi, who was on the Fifa executive committee that voted to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, had been an Asian Football Confederation representative on the committee for 18 years until he was voted off in 2015.