FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Blatter
442 Staff - Friday 27 May 2011, 11:04
ZURICH - FIFA president Sepp Blatter will
face an ethics investigation alongside his election rival
Mohamed bin Hammam after football's governing body widened its
inquiry into bribes-for-votes allegations.
In a move that sent shockwaves around the sporting world,
FIFA said it was calling Blatter to appear at an ethics hearing
on Sunday, three days before the 75-year-old Swiss stands
against challenger Bin Hammam in the election for the most
powerful job in football.
Bin Hammam will also face the hearing at FIFA house, along
with CONCACAF president Jack Warner and two Caribbean officials,
and the outcome may determine whether the June 1 election can go
ahead as planned.
"I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened
against me today," Blatter, who has been FIFA president since
1998 and is standing for a fourth term, said in a brief
statement.
"The facts will speak for themselves," added the Swiss.
FIFA has been under pressure to clean up its act and become
more transparent after two executive committee members were
suspended last year after allegedly offering to sell their votes
in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting contest to undercover
newspaper reporters.
However, few observers could have expected anything as
dramatic as this week's events.
"The FIFA presidential election campaign has descended into
a farce," Britain's sport minister Hugh Robertson said in a
statement. "With both of the candidates having allegations of
corruption aimed at them the election should be suspended."
The English FA, angry over its failed bid for the 2018 World
Cup, had already announced it would abstain from voting for
either candidate.
However, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose
country will host the 2018 World Cup, backed Blatter.
"To accuse Blatter of corruption is complete rubbish," Putin
told reporters. "If I was voting (in the FIFA election) I would
vote for Blatter."
BRIBERY REPORT
The case was opened on Wednesday when CONCACAF secretary
general Chuck Blazer, who like Warner and Bin Hammam is a member
of FIFA's Executive Committee, reported a possible case of
bribery in the election campaign.
Asian Football Confederation president Bin Hammam, 62, has
denied any wrongdoing in the matter, which concerns a meeting
attended by the Qatari and Warner, who is a government minister
in Trinidad & Tobago, on May 10-11.
According to FIFA's statement on Friday, ethics proceedings
were opened against Blatter at Bin Hamman's request because the
FIFA president may have known about cash payments to delegates
at the meeting.
CONCACAF includes 35 of the 208 national associations which
make up the FIFA Congress and, alongside Asia, is the only
confederation which has not decided who it will back.
Europe, South America, Africa and Oceania have all decided
to support Blatter.
Bin Hammam admitted he had paid the expenses of the
delegates but said he had done nothing wrong and was victim of a
conspiracy.
"It is quite obvious that, following previous failed
attempts, this is part of a final effort to prevent Mr. Bin
Hammam from running for the FIFA presidency," he said.
"Nobody has ever tried to hide the fact that Mr. Bin Hammam
paid for the delegates' travel and accommodation expenses and
covered the meeting's administrative costs," said the statement,
referring to the CFU meeting.
"At this congress, Mr. Bin Hammam presented his programme,
which included proposals to give more say, more pay, more
support and more responsibility to the national associations.
The presidential election, in which Blatter and Bin Hammam
are the only candidates, is scheduled to take place on June 1 at
the annual FIFA Congress in Zurich.
FIFA would not comment on the potential consequences of the
ethics committee hearing, to be headed by Namibia's Petrus
Damaseb.
However, if a ban was handed to one or both of the
candidates it would make it impossible to hold the election on
June 1.