Bin Hammam: Blatter acted alone over Interpol
Reuters - Thursday 12 May 2011, 16:10
LONDON - FIFA presidential candidate
Mohamed Bin Hammam criticised Sepp Blatter on Thursday for
donating $20 million to Interpol to help combat match-fixing,
claiming the idea was never approved by FIFA's executive
committee.
The FIFA president, who is being challenged by Bin Hammam in
a presidential election on June 1 in Zurich, announced the
initiative on Monday aimed at combatting illegal betting and
match-fixing which threaten the integrity of the game globally.
However, in a message on his personal website on Thursday, the 62-year-old Qatari said the FIFA
executive were never consulted about the donation to Interpol,
the largest single grant the organisation had received from a
private institution.
Bin Hammam also said that while FIFA's name had "been
dragged through the mud once more" by allegations made by David
Triesman in London this week, he did not believe the
organisation was corrupt.
He continued: "Currently, the President has taken on too
much of an Executive role, as evidenced by the recently
announced initiative to donate 20 million dollars to Interpol.
Imagine FIFA financing Interpol's activities!
"This decision was taken arbitrarily by the FIFA President
and was not discussed with the Executive Committee.
"It is just another example of the current regime choosing
to run football how it sees fit, rather than doing so in a
manner that is consistent with the governing body's proper
procedures. How on earth can we convince people of FIFA's
innocence?"
SOMETHING URGENT
FIFA later refuted suggestions that Blatter had approved the
donation to Interpol alone.
"The chairman of the FIFA Finance Committee was consulted
with regards to this payment made by FIFA before the agreement
was signed," the statement said.
It also said the donation was not a one-off payment but
spread evenly over 10 years.
While stating that FIFA's image had been damaged, Bin
Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation, said
he did not believe the organisation was corrupt.
"It has become clear yet again in recent days that something
urgently needs to be done to improve and enhance the image of
FIFA; the name of our great sport and its leading institution
have been dragged through the mud once more," he said.
"I will happily and unreservedly restate that I firmly
believe FIFA, as a decision-making body and as an organisation,
is not corrupt.
"Football is a force for good and FIFA is at the vanguard of
making positive changes across the world.
"However, under the current status quo it is impossible to
deny that the governing body's reputation has been sullied
beyond compare and it is time for that to change.
"A new atmosphere needs to descend upon FIFA; there needs to
be an opportunity for new ideas to take hold and for the
organisation to take a new direction."
FIFA's ethics have been in the spotlight this week after
Triesman, the former chairman of the English FA, accused four
executive committee members of seeking bribes in return for
their vote for England's bid for the 2018 World Cup finals.
Two other members were accused of taking bribes to vote for
Qatar's 2022 bid while last year two others were banned from
FIFA's executive committee for selling their votes.
Blatter has said he wants an investigation into the latest
allegations completed before he defends his presidency against
Bin Hammam at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 31 and June 1.