Madrid, Feb 16 (IANS): The FIFA ethics committee has decided to take legal action against the former presidents of the Costa Rican and Guatemalan football federations.

According to FIFA, Cornel Borbely, Chairman of the Investigatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee, completed the investigations into alleged illegal payments Costa Rica's Eduardo Li and Guatemala's Brayan Jimenez received from sports marketing companies, reports Efe news agency.

Jimenez was found guilty on July 29, 2016 by the Federal Court of Brooklyn in New York on counts of blackmail and cybercrime while Li was found guilty on Octtober 7, 2016 of committing similar offences.

Borbely recommended that both former officials should be banned for life from any soccer-related activities due to their involvement in corruption cases.

A FIFA statement added that "for reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time".