FIFA chamber recommends lifetime ban for Bin Hammam aide

ZURICH (Reuters) - FIFA's investigatory chamber has recommended an aide to former presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam be banned for life from all soccer-related activities after completing an investigation into payments made to several soccer officials.

The body wants Najeeb Chirakal to be punished for allegedly breaching seven of the scandal-hit soccer body's rules, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The charges included infringements to FIFA's rules on general conduct, duty of disclosure and reporting, conflicts of interest, offering and accepting gifts, bribery and corruption.

A formal decision on Chirakal will be made by the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee.

"Until a formal decision is taken by the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Mr Chirakal is presumed innocent," the investigatory chamber said in a statement.

Chirakal's boss was Bin Hammam, the Asian soccer chief who pulled out of the race to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2011. Bin Hammam was later banned for life by football's ruling body for his part in a cash-for-votes scandal.

(Reporting by John Revill; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Michael Shields)