ZURICH (AP):

FIFA asked its ethics committee to investigate 16 Caribbean leaders yesterday about a bribery scandal involving former presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam.

The officials are suspected of being offered or taking $40,000 in cash to back bin Hammam against FIFA President Sepp Blatter, then denying the corruption attempt to investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

FIFA says the suspects from 11 Caribbean countries include Colin Klass of Guyana, a long-standing ally of former Caribbean football strongman Jack Warner. FIFA says Klass has been provisionally suspended "after consideration of the specific information received on the matter".

FIFA says the 16 will be invited for new interviews by Freeh's team as part of an investigation led by Robert Torres, a supreme court judge from Guam.

"It is important to note that the investigations are still ongoing, and that it is therefore possible that further proceedings could be opened in the future," FIFA said in a statement.

The list also includes Mark Bob Forde from Barbados, who was a FIFA-approved international referee for almost 20 years.

Haiti federation president Yves Jean-Bart is also under investigation. He made a speech at the FIFA Congress on June 1 criticising English officials who wanted Blatter's election delayed while corruption allegations were fully investigated.

life ban

The second wave of cases follows bin Hammam's life ban last month.

FIFA's ethics panel also suspended two Caribbean Football Union staffers for one year for their part in distributing the cash-stuffed brown envelopes in a Trinidad hotel.

FIFA invited officials from CFU member countries for "truthful and complete reporting" of what happened during the Qatari candidate's May 10 campaign visit to Trinidad.

The scandal threatens to remove some of the Caribbean's most influential soccer leaders during a busy period of 2014 World Cup qualification matches.