Bin Hammam FIFA appeal set for next week
Reuters - Thursday 08 September 2011, 10:42
LONDON - Mohamed Bin Hammam, handed a life
ban by FIFA on bribery charges, will have his appeal against
that decision heard next week, FIFA confirmed on Thursday.
The 62-year-old Qatari, a former member of FIFA's Executive Committee, was booted out in July after being found guilty of
corruption and his case will be heard by FIFA's Appeals Committee on September 15.
The hearing, at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich is expected
to be completed on the day but it is not yet known if Bin Hammam
will attend in person, or be represented by his lawyers.
Bin Hammam was banned after the Ethics Committee ruled he
was responsible for cash gifts totalling around 1.0 million US
dollars for officials from associations belonging to the
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) at a meeting in Trinidad on May
10.
It was alleged the gifts of around 40,000 per member were to
secure their votes in his battle to defeat incumbent Sepp
Blatter in the FIFA presidential election on June 1.
After the allegations were made, Bin Hammam withdrew his
candidature and Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth
term unopposed.
FIFA have also charged 16 officials with rule breaches in
connection with the CFU meeting and also handed a life ban to
former executive committee member and FIFA vice-president Jack
Warner of Trinidad & Tobago.
Bin Hammam has doggedly claimed he is innocent of all
charges and if his appeal fails he has indicated he will take
his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, and
possibly after that to the Swiss federal court.
Earlier this week Bin Hammam had been critical of FIFA and
Ethics Committee chairman Petrus Damaseb of Namibia, insisting
he had not bribed anyone and that FIFA would never have taken
action against him if he were European.
The letter, published by Bin Hammam on the Asian Football
Confederation website, states: "I have never tried to bribe
people and all the attendees of that CFU meeting are sure of
this fact and you, yourself, heard this from all the witnesses
that [were] brought to testify against me."
He also says he is secure enough financially to pursue his
legal defence for years if necessary to restore his reputation,
and will emerge "unscathed by these creative allegations."