Warner and fellow FIFA member Mohamed Bin Hammam, who with FIFA president Sepp Blatter were two of the three most powerful men in football, had been suspended on bribery charges.

FIFA have now ended the ethics committee investigation against Warner on the basis that under Swiss law they have no jurisdiction over people not in the organisation, but say he will continue to be involved as a witness in the probe into Bin Hammam and the Caribbean associations alleged to have received cash gifts totalling 1million US dollars.

FIFA said in a statement: "Mr Warner will be heard as a witness.

"He will be investigated as a witness but not as an accused party. He has offered his support to the ethics committee in their continued investigation."

Warner, 68, quit after being shown the detailed findings of last month's FIFA ethics committee. The 17-page document was sent to Warner on June 14 and on June 17 he informed FIFA he was resigning from international football.

He issued a parting shot, however, claiming the giving of "gifts" has always been part of the culture of FIFA during his 30 years in the organisation and that he had been "hung out to dry".

He told Bloomberg: "It's not unusual for such things to happen and gifts have been around throughout the history of FIFA. What's happening now for me is hypocrisy."

Warner and Bin Hammam were accused of giving or offering bribes of 40,000 US dollars to the 25 members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) - the total sum involved was allegedly 1million US dollars.

The pair denied any wrongdoing but were suspended by FIFA's ethics committee on May 29 pending a full investigation.

Warner was also president of the CONCACAF federation of countries from the Caribbean and north and central America until the bribes were reported to FIFA by CONCACAF's general secretary Chuck Blazer.

Warner added: "I have lost my enthusiasm to continue. The general secretary that I had employed, who worked with me for 21 years, with the assistance of elements of FIFA has sought to undermine me in ways that are unimaginable.

"This is giving the impression that FIFA is sanitising itself. I've been hung out to dry continually and I'm not prepared to take that."

Damian Collins, the Tory MP who has been campaigning for FIFA reforms, condemned the decision to drop the investigation into Warner.

He told Press Association Sport: "This just shows FIFA can't be trusted to do it by themselves. The whole investigation has been a complete farce.

"Jack Warner has gone from protesting his innocence to resigning from FIFA, who now drop the inquiry into him. I don't see why this should be the end of the investigation just because he has resigned."