ZURICH: Greg Dyke, chairman of the Football Association, is finally off the disciplinary hook in the row over the watches presented to senior officials by the Brazilian confederation at the World Cup finals last year writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

All heads of the finalist nations plus members of the FIFA executive committee – 65 individuals in all – were given luxury watches by the CBF to mark its centenary on the eve of the tournament.

Subsequently several FIFA exco members raised the issue with the ethics committee, then headed by American lawyer Michael Garcia. He ruled that the £16,000 value of the watches exceeded permitted limits for gifts and ordered that they be handed back by last October 24.

Dyke and UEFA president Michel Platini were among members who expressed surprise at the order and initially cavilled at returning the watches.

Now however the FIFA ethics department has confirmed that Dyke has handed back the watch and that “as consequence, the adjudicatory chamber . . . has decided to close the proceedings in respect of a possible breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

###########