Corruption In FIFA: Blatter’s Opponent, Hammam Axed

A report monitored on FIFA website today says the FIFA ethics committee suspended one-time presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner today, while it cleared FIFA president Sepp Blatter of corruption.

The committee, chaired by Namibian Petrus Damaseb, heard bin Hammam, Warner and Blatter during a dramatic day that started with bin Hammam withdrawing from the presidential election in which he was Blatter’s sole opponent.

Two members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, who were said to have colluded with bin Hammam and Warner, were also suspended.

The FIFA presidential election will also go ahead as planned on 1 June, said FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke after the ethics committee revealed its findings.

“Both bin Hammam and Warner were provisionally banned from future activity in football while a full investigation is carried out” announced Damaseb.

“There, they can confront their accusers.

“The critical consideration is to ensure the investigation is not compromised and that is why we have chosen to provisionally suspend them even if we are not here to say whether they are guilty or not guilty.

By Tunde Oyedele