Vernon Manilal Fernando (born 13 October 1949, in Kalutara, Sri Lanka) is a Sri Lankan businessman and former international football official.

Education

Manilal Fernando was educated at

Kalutara Vidyalaya Kalutara Vidyalaya ( si, කළුතර විද්‍යාලය) is a Buddhist boys' school in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The college was founded in 1941 by Sir Cyril De Zoysa. It is a national school providing primary and secondary education. ...

and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. In 1972 he became attorney at law and graduated.

Career

From 1979 to 1999, Fernando was president of the

Football Federation of Sri Lanka The Football Sri Lanka (FSL) is the governing body of football in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lanka national football team and Sri Lanka Football Premier League. History Football Sri Lanka was founded on 1939 as Ceylon Football Associati ...

. In 2011, he became the first Sri Lankan vice president of the

FIFA Executive Committee The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...

by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

FIFA's fraud case

During the

Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal The Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal involved attempted bribery used to win the votes of national football associations from the Caribbean Football Union in the 2011 FIFA presidential election. The bribes were offered on 20 May 2011, a ...

Fernando was suspended for 90 days from any soccer activity for his involvement in a 2011 bribery scandal. In April 2013, Fernando was banned from any football activity for eight years. He was "found guilty of several breaches of the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Code of Ethics" including bribery, conflicts of interest and accepting gifts. In October 2013, Fernando was banned for life by FIFA following an appeal on a previous eight-year ban. In March 2015, Fernando lost his appeal to The Court of Arbitration for Sport, which banned him for life for bribery in the 2009 Asian Football Confederation Congress election for a seat on the FIFA Executive Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Manilal Living people 1949 births 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan fraudsters Sri Lankan businesspeople