FIFA provisionally suspended two of its executive committee members Wednesday over allegations that they were willing to sell their votes in the election of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, dpa reported.
The announcement comes after the British Sunday Times newspaper reported that Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, who is a FIFA vice-president, agreed to support a certain bid in return for money to build sports facilities.
Adamu is said to have asked that the money be paid to him personally.
Ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser announced the news in Zurich, calling the decision "a sad day for football and FIFA". The initial suspension runs for 30 days and can be extended for a further 20 in order to give the ethics committee the opportunity to investigate the allegations.
England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands are bidding for the 2018 edition. Qatar, Australia, the United States, Japan and South Korea aim to land the 2022 World Cup.