Bribery Scandal: FIFA Bans Adamu For 3 Years, Fined $10,118

Nigeria’s Amos Adamu was early today found guilty by the ethic court of the world  football governing body, FIFA for an alleged bribery allegation exposed by the  Sunday Times of London.

The FIFA executive committee members, Adamu and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti were  suspended from all football-related activity for three years and one year  respectively in relation to allegations of corruption regarding World Cup votes.

The pair were implicated in a Sunday Times investigation which accused the duo of  accepting money in return for their vote in the bidding for the World Cup, with  reporters from the newspaper posing as representatives of the United States’ 2022  World Cup bid.

Adamu has already indicated his intention to appeal against the verdict delivered  today by the chairman of FIFA’s ethics committee, Claudio Sulser.

Adamu was fined 10,000 Swiss francs (£6,341, $10,118) and Temarii 5,000 Swiss francs  (£3,170) as part of the sanction against them.

In a separate investigation, the ethics committee found insufficient evidence of  collusion between the bid teams of Spain-Portugal 2018 and Qatar 2022. The FIFA  ethics committee had also been conducting an investigation into allegations that the  two bid teams had been colluding to trade votes, against bidding regulations.

However, it was announced today the committee “did not find sufficient grounds to  reach a conclusion that there was any collusion”.

Adamu has outlined his displeasure at the verdict of the organisation’s ethics  committee and confirmed he will appeal. He pre-empted today’s announcement by  releasing a statement indicating his intention to fight the findings.

“I am profoundly disappointed with the Ethics Committee’s findings and had honestly  believed I would be exonerated of any charges by now,” he said. “I am innocent of  all the charges levelled against me by the Ethics Committee and I completely refute  the decision they have made.

“As yet I have not been advised of the grounds of the Ethics Committee’s decision  but regardless, I will be lodging a full appeal against it with immediate effect.”

Meanwhile. the National Sports Commission Chairman and Sports Minister, Ibrahim Bio  had stated that today’s verdict will determine the next line of action by the  government.

“We are waiting for the final pronouncement from FIFA,” he said. He however said  government has zero tolerance for acts of corruption.

“While the world awaits the final outcome of FIFA investigation, I wish to re-state  emphatically that this government has zero tolerance for acts of corruption at all  levels.

“In the event that FIFA’s findings confirm the allegations, Nigerian anti-corruption  agencies would take appropriate action,” Bio said.

It would be recalled that undercover reporters from the Sunday Times claiming to be  lobbyists for the United States of America’s World Cup bid allegedly caught Adamu on  video requesting for the sum of N120, 000, 000 ($800,000) with which he planned to  set up a couple of artificial pitches in Nigeria in exchange for his vote.

The undercover reporters also allegedly caught Temarii of the Oceania Football  Confederation requesting for the sum of $2 million.

Both officials however denied the allegations that they offered to sell votes,  saying their filmed sequences were edited to make them appear guilty.

In October, Claudio Sulser, the chairman of FIFA’s ethics committee, said the  committee reviewed 90 minutes of video evidence provided by the Sunday Times and had  to provisionally suspend Adamu and Temarii for 30 days in order to conduct a proper  inquiry.

A video on the Sunday Times website allegedly showed Adamu telling an undercover  reporter that he wanted to build four football fields for $200,000 each and that the  money could be paid to him “directly.” When the undercover reporter asked whether  the payment would help Adamu make his decision in favour of the U.S. World Cup bid,  he responded:

“Obviously it will have an effect. Of course it will have an effect…Because  certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote.”

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