Former Watford chairman Raffaele Riva has been banned from football as a relevant person indefinitely by the EFL.

The ban relates to a forged document in relation to a provision of a banking funding letter when Gino Pozzo took over Watford in May 2014, which was required to hand control of the club over.

Riva was charged with breaching a number of EFL regulations in June 2017 after a third party informed the EFL the letter was not authentic.

During the disciplinary commission hearing, Riva admitted it was his role as club chairman to ensure accurate information was provided about the financial resources of Hornets Investment Limited.

He failed to do this in the knowledge that the falsified letter would be relied upon by the EFL to assess whether Change of Control requirements had been met.

Riva recognised that his actions brought the EFL and club into disrepute after he had given consent to hand over inaccurate information.

As a result of these admissions, as well as Riva’s acceptance that he caused embarrassment to both the EFL and Watford, he has been suspended from club participation as a relevant person.

He will be unable to seek review of the suspension until at least November 2, 2026.

Additionally Riva must pay a £50,000 fine and £65,000 towards the costs of the EFL and the Disciplinary Commission.

Also in June 2017, and under a separate Disciplinary Commission, Watford Football Club was charged with a breach of EFL Regulation 3.1 and 16.21 and subsequently fined £5.75 million, reduced to £3.95 million plus £350,000 costs.

The EFL made it clear that neither Gino Pozzo nor any member of the club's board or staff had any knowledge of the forged nature of the document.