The action was sparked by information sent to the FIG secretariat in accordance with Art.19.3 of the FIG Statutes and the case file has been passed to a panel comprising lawyers, Michelle Duncan - who has been appointed President of the panel - and Andreas Zagklis, together with FIG Disciplinary Commission member Paul Engelmann.

The panel will now examine the documents, along with a report prepared by men's technical committee President Steve Butcher, before interviewing the implicated parties -the identities of which will not be divulged until the panel has finalised its conclusions.

"This decision is a result of our zero tolerance policy in terms of justice in sports," FIG media operations officer Philippe Silacci told insidethegames.

"Let us remember the FIG President's comment stating that the vast majority of our judging panels have embraced our best practices.

"Only a few ignorant individuals, trapped within the parochial mesh of their national flags, continue to resist change and pursue this dead end.

"We need to be patient in the knowledge that, ultimately, we will convince them to change their ways."

Earlier this month FIG revealed it had identified "irregularities" at three of its global judges' courses where participants had the same scores and same percentages, and where they received "arbitrary and unjustified" bonuses.

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