FIFA in turmoil as corruption in Football is taken to a new level

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Category: football

Published on Thursday, 07 July 2011 03:26

Written by Sheraj Obeysekera

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Corruption has been a part of football for quite some time now even in countries like Italy and England where bribery and betting scandals have made the news once in a while, and the fact that football is a global sport means that it is impossible to avoid corruption completely.

FIFA, the governing body for the sport around the world is rocked with corruption allegations at its highest level where it’s vice President Jack Warner and one time FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hamman have been accused of bribing.

According to a repost prepared by the press association the two influential individuals are alleged to have offered bribes to federations in the CONCACAF region amounting to bundles of $4000 each and the scandal was brought into the attention of the media when one such federation that was offered the bribe blew the whistle. The bribes were made with the intention of buying support for Bin Hamman who at that time was bidding to be FIFA president challenging current President and eventual winner of the election Sepp Blatter.

Both Warner and Hamman have denied the allegations made. Bin Hamman said in a statement "There is nothing I can say more than I deny the allegations and insist that I have not done anything wrong during the special Congress at Trinidad."

Bin Hamman withdrew his bid to contest for the FIFA presidential elections as a result of these allegations surfacing and both officials were suspended after a hearing done by the FIFA ethics committee pending further inquiries.

Jack Warner later on resigned from his post in FIFA and all football related activities therefore FIFA said in a statement that it is dropping all chargers since Warner is no longer affiliated to the Football governing body which has raised a number of questions in terms of FIFA’s corruption policy. FIFA's ethics committee will meet on July 22 and 23 to hear the case against Mohamed bin Hamman.

Mohamed Bin Hamman

•    Nationality: Qatari

•    Has been the president of the Asian Football federation since 2002 and also has been a part of FIFA's 24-man executive committee for the past 15 years

•    Hamman is well known for playing a part in the decision to accept Australia into the AFC which was done during his time as chief of the governing body.

•    He had fallouts with current President Sepp Blatter over issues related to the executive committee and decided to run against Blatter in the 2011 election.

•    Hamman is also alleged to have played a major role in buying the right to host the 2022 world cup on behalf of Qatar as they were picked to host the world cup in 2022 over more fancied bids.

Jack Warner

•    Nationality: Trinidad and Tobago

•    Influential personality especially in Caribbean Football and is well respected for his service in Soccer

•    Was appointed as the Vice President of FIFA in 1993.
•    Has had many allegations drawn against him including corruption in ticket sales as well as accepting world cup bid voting bribes.

Press Association report

The report on the scandal prepared by the press association for FIFA stated that there is substantial evidence supporting the fact that bribes were offered by Bin Hamman and that Jack Warner was facilitating him.

The report also states that a meeting with the Caribbean Football association was arranged by Warner with 25 member federations attending and cash gifts were offered to all participants with both Hamman and Warner being aware of such offerings.

The report also includes statements made by witnesses present at the meeting in Trinidad where they stated that bundles of 40000$ were presented in envelopes and one witness even managed to take a picture before rejecting it.

Jack Warner’s decision to quit his post as FIFA vice president came days after the report was released and many question the decision by Sepp Baltter to drop all chargers and make an “assumption of innocence” after the resignation.

Effect on presidential race

The effect that the scandal had on the presidential election was immense as Hamman’s decision to withdraw from the race meant that Blatter went into the election unopposed and with no chance of loosing. This was termed as unfair by the English FA who refrained from voting signaling protest against the administration at FIFA.

It is argued by many that the scandal played into the hands of Blatter who has been criticized by many for some decisions made by him during his first two terms and many have called for an investigation on Blatter and other FIFA officials as part of a cleanup of FIFA. Blatter has responded to such calls by stating that he will clean up FIFA of corruption and that the hearings in relation to Hamman would be the beginning of such reforms.

Calls for reform and independent investigations

Many individuals and governing bodies including UEFA have called for change in FIFA corruption policy and transparent investigations. Such calls come after all chargers were dropped on Jack Warner and two other officials. The substantial evidence against Warner suggests that dropping chargers and not taking action is an error of judgment made by authorities which has lead to the frustration of interested parties.

Baltter now faces pressure the media as well as well as sponsors, players, and other officials to make changes to the way the body governs all aspects of the game. Blatter has reacted to such pressure by promising “radical reforms” after he was elected for yet another term.

It would be interesting to see how FIFA progress from here in terms of reforms and what the ethics committee would rule on the case of Bin Hamman but the scandal has exposed FIFA and done damage to its reputation and credibility.

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