The Criminal Court today sentenced former Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel to 23 years in prison and fined him 44.7 million rufiyaa in a case involving the misuse of 1.2 million dollars given by FIFA to FAM for personal purposes outside of regulations.

The Criminal Court has proven the charges of embezzlement and money laundering brought against Bassam. The judge imposed an 8-year prison sentence for the embezzlement charge and a 15-year sentence for the money laundering charge, noting that this is the maximum penalty that can be given for these offenses.

Bassam has previously been convicted on two other criminal charges in cases involving embezzlement of funds received by Football Association officials from various parties. This is the harshest sentence the court has given to Bassam so far in cases involving the mismanagement and personal use of funds given by FIFA to FAM.