ZURICH, May 29 (Reuters) - FIFA began a hearing on Sunday that was due to investigate corruption allegations involving president Sepp Blatter and rival Mohamed Bin Hammam, who withdrew his candidacy for the FIFA presidency hours earlier.
Controversial CONCACAF president Jack Warner, seen as one of FIFA’s most powerful men, was also summoned to appear before the ethics committee along with two Caribbean officials in the latest scandal to engulf soccer’s beleaguered governing body.
If the hearing decides Blatter has no case to answer, that would almost certainly clear the 75-year-old Swiss to be re-elected unopposed in Wednesday’s presidential vote.
However, if it decides to provisionally suspend him, FIFA would be heading into uncharted territory.
FIFA could not confirm that all those summoned would attend the hearing and said that a media conference would be held at 1600 GMT at the earliest to announce the committee’s findings.
The investigation was opened last week following a report by American FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer on a Port of Spain meeting linked to the election campaign and involving Warner, Bin Hammam and Caribbean officials earlier this month.
Blazer’s report mentioned possible violations of the code of ethics, including bribery allegations.
“FOOTBALL TSUNAMI”
Blatter was included after Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said the FIFA president, who is standing for a fourth term, might have known about cash payments to delegates.
Bin Hammam was due to stand against Blatter at the FIFA Congress until the Qatari withdrew in the early hours of Sunday.
“It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price—the degradation of FIFA’s reputation,” Bin Hammam said in a statement.
“This is not what I had in mind for FIFA and this is unacceptable.”
Warner, head of the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said on Saturday that a “football tsunami” was about to strike FIFA.
Bin Hammam and Warner have denied wrongdoing and Blatter has said “the facts will speak for themselves”.
FIFA has been under pressure to clean up its act and become more transparent since two executive committee members were suspended last year after allegedly offering to sell their votes in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting contest.
Controversial CONCACAF president Jack Warner, seen as one of FIFA’s most powerful men, was also summoned to appear before the ethics committee along with two Caribbean officials in the latest scandal to engulf soccer’s beleaguered governing body.
If the hearing decides Blatter has no case to answer, that would almost certainly clear the 75-year-old Swiss to be re-elected unopposed in Wednesday’s presidential vote.
However, if it decides to provisionally suspend him, FIFA would be heading into uncharted territory.
FIFA could not confirm that all those summoned would attend the hearing and said that a media conference would be held at 1600 GMT at the earliest to announce the committee’s findings.
The investigation was opened last week following a report by American FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer on a Port of Spain meeting linked to the election campaign and involving Warner, Bin Hammam and Caribbean officials earlier this month.
Blazer’s report mentioned possible violations of the code of ethics, including bribery allegations.
“FOOTBALL TSUNAMI”
Blatter was included after Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said the FIFA president, who is standing for a fourth term, might have known about cash payments to delegates.
Bin Hammam was due to stand against Blatter at the FIFA Congress until the Qatari withdrew in the early hours of Sunday.
“It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price—the degradation of FIFA’s reputation,” Bin Hammam said in a statement.
“This is not what I had in mind for FIFA and this is unacceptable.”
Warner, head of the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said on Saturday that a “football tsunami” was about to strike FIFA.
Bin Hammam and Warner have denied wrongdoing and Blatter has said “the facts will speak for themselves”.
FIFA has been under pressure to clean up its act and become more transparent since two executive committee members were suspended last year after allegedly offering to sell their votes in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting contest.
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