Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal
OR:
Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal involved attempted bribery used to win the votes of national football associations from the
Caribbean Football Union The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated to FIFA. The Union was established in Januar ...
in the 2011
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
presidential election. The bribes were offered on 20 May 2011, at a meeting of the CFU, held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The meeting had been arranged so that the president of the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
, Mohammed Bin Hammam, could address representatives of the CFU, in an attempt to persuade them to vote for him in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections. As it was a meeting for the Caribbean Football Union, the
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...
members from Central America (
UNCAF The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more commonly known by the acronym UNCAF, represents the national football teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Pa ...
) and North America (
NAFU The North American Football Union (NAFU; french: Union Nord-Américaine de Football; es, Unión Norteamericana de Fútbol) is a regional grouping under CONCACAF of national football organizations in the ''North American Zone''. The NAFU has no o ...
) were not present. The vice president of the
Bahamas Football Association The Bahamas Football Association (BFA), is the official governing body of the sport of Association football in The Bahamas. Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Nassau, the federation is a full member of FIFA since 1968 and governs Bahamian footb ...
, Fred Lunn, reported that while attending the meeting, he had been given a brown envelope containing US$40,000, in exchange for which he was expected to vote for Bin Hammam. During the subsequent investigations, the CONCACAF president Jack Warner and various CFU officials were also implicated in the bribery. Both Warner and Bin Hammam denied any involvement. The incident resulted in Bin Hammam's suspension and Warner's resignation, as well as the suspension of over 30 CFU vice-presidents and staff, and the investigation of over 30 national football association officials.


Background

It was a sensitive time for
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, who had been criticised in the European press for their handling of corruption accusations, which extended to FIFA President
Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...
. The
Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's football governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football team in 1949. It joined CAF in 1959 and FIF ...
and
West African Football Union The West African Football Union (french: Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football; pt, União das Federações Oeste Africanas), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is an association of the football playing nations in West ...
leader
Amos Adamu Amos Adamu (born 31 December 1952) is a Nigerian sports administrator, he was Director General of the Nigerian National Sports Commission for ten years before being redeployed in November 2008. Before his appointment as Director General, Adamu wa ...
and the
Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...
and
Tahitian Football Federation The Tahitian Football Federation (french: Fédération tahitienne de football) is the governing body of football in French Polynesia. The Tahiti's men national football team is after Australia and New Zealand the 3rd most successful nation repr ...
President
Reynald Temarii Reynald is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Reynald de Châtillon (1125–1187), French Knight who served in the Second Crusade *Francis Reynald Wewengkang (born 1971), current Persija Jakarta Football player *Reynald Lemaître ...
had been banned from football for requesting payments in kind in the run-up to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting bid vote. A
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
episode of ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
'' had been featured showing various FIFA officials refusing to answer to allegations. There were also suspicions that Qatar (Bin Hammam's nation) had won the rights to the host the
2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...
by bribing FIFA Executive Officers. In the run-up to the FIFA Presidency elections that would place at the 61st FIFA Congress, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his electoral opposition Mohammed Bin Hammam were expected to meet with CONCACAF delegates to persuade them whom to vote for. Sepp Blatter met with all members of the CFU when they met on 3 May 2011 at the annual
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...
Congress at the JW Marriott hotel in
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
along with members of the
NAFU The North American Football Union (NAFU; french: Union Nord-Américaine de Football; es, Unión Norteamericana de Fútbol) is a regional grouping under CONCACAF of national football organizations in the ''North American Zone''. The NAFU has no o ...
and
UNCAF The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more commonly known by the acronym UNCAF, represents the national football teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Pa ...
. However, the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
President and FIFA Presidential candidate Mohammed bin Hammam stated that he was unable to attend the meeting. At the congress, Jack Warner retained his position as CONCACAF President having been voted in, for his sixth consecutive four-year term. As a result of Bin Hammam's absence, it was arranged for a second meeting to be held on 10 May 2011 in the Hyatt Regency hotel,
Port-of-Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
where Mohammed Bin Hammam could attend and address the CFU members as the majority of CONCACAF members are also members of the CFU.


Incident

Anton Sealey, the President of the
Bahamas Football Association The Bahamas Football Association (BFA), is the official governing body of the sport of Association football in The Bahamas. Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Nassau, the federation is a full member of FIFA since 1968 and governs Bahamian footb ...
was attending an event in the run-up to the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, as such, he was unable to attend a meeting in
Port-of-Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
. Bahamas FA's Vice President, Fred Lunn, attended the meeting, whilst there, Lunn was given brown envelope with the word "Bahamas" written on it containing US$40,000. Believing it to be a bribe in a cash-for-votes scandal, funded by bin Hammam, Lunn reported the incident to Sealey, who in turn reported it to CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. Lunn took a photograph of the money and the envelope before returning them. He later gave journalists a digital copy of the photograph for publication. Bahamas-based newspaper ''The Tribune'' praised Sealey and Lunn for not accepting the envelope: "The attempted bribe was an insult to the whole Caribbean. Those seeking the Caribbean Football Federation's vote obviously saw its members as coming from poor island nations who would never have seen so much money as fell from the brown envelope that was offered them. Many proved to their tempters that poor they might be, but they had pride, they had integrity and although they might never see so much money again, under such tainted conditions they would never stoop so low as to pick it up. As was pointed out, $40,000 for the Caribbean's smaller islands would be the equivalent of several years' salary." On 11 May 2011, the day after the officials had been given the envelopes, a CFU meeting had been covertly recorded by somebody from within the CFU (Warner later alleged that this Angenie Kanhai, the CFU's general secretary). The video's audio included Warner telling CFU members that Bin Hammam offered to bring "silver plaques and wooden trophies and bunting and so on" as a gift for each member and that Warner suggested Bin Hammam should bring cash. Warner said that he'd told Bin Hammam to pay the CFU directly and the CFU would distribute the cash to its members. Warner also told members that if they were uneasy about accepting the money, that they could return it to him and that "if you are pious go to a church friends, but the fact is that our business is our business"


Investigation

Eric Labrador, President of the
Puerto Rican Football Federation The Puerto Rican Football Federation ( es, Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol) is the governing body of association football in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1940 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1960, one of the last to do so in the Wester ...
stated that he accepted the money as it came from a CFU official and not from Bin Hammam. Labrador also stated that he requested a letter from a CFU official to show the Trinidad customs division that the money was for footballing development in Puerto Rico. He reported the incident upon hearing that FIFA did not know about the incident. CONCACAF general secretary, Chuck Blazer, asked Chicago-based US Federal Prosecutor John Collins of ''Collins and Collins'' to investigate into the events that took place at the Hyatt Regency hotel. The interviews were to take place in Miami and be conducted by former
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
director
Louis Freeh Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Universi ...
of the ''Freeh Group''. Warner refused to be interviewed: "I have not received any summons asking me to speak with them he investigatorsnor do I plan to do so". Warner suspected an American conspiracy as Chuck Blazer, John Collins and Louis Freeh are all American citizens: "I'm not going to back a complaint made by an American and investigated by Americans and an attempt to put it on American soil because the complaint is from Miami," The CFU general secretary, 28-year-old Trinidadian Angenie Kanhai, agreed to give evidence at the FIFA hearing. The evidence detailed Warner's instruction to deliver "gifts" of sealed envelopes, said to contain cash, to each of the delegates. Several other members of the CFU had refused to do so. Louis Giskus, president of the
Surinaamse Voetbal Bond The Surinamese Football Association ( nl, Surinaamse Voetbal Bond ) is the governing body of football in Suriname. It organizes the Surinamese football league system, the Surinamese Cup, Suriname President's Cup, Suriname national football team ...
also stated that he had been given an envelope: "We went up to a room and were given $40,000 in a brown envelope with the name of Surinam on it," Other CFU leaders, reportedly from the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, also described attempts to give them identical amounts of money. In his defence, Bin Hammam claimed that the $40,000 was to cover travel, 'accommodation expenses and "administrative costs" of the meeting'. Warner and 12 other member associations claimed that no money was given and that "the allegations are entirely false".


Trinidadian police reaction

Transparency international and the political party 'People's National Movement' (Warner's political opponents) both called for the Trinidad police to launch an investigation into the bribery claims. Trinidadian Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs was also expected to investigate the bribery claims. Gibbs stated that as there had been no official complaint, there was nothing to investigate, he stated that if there was an investigation to be made, it would be conducted by the Customs and Excise Division as according to Trinidadian law, only amounts up to $5,000 can be carried out of the country as baggage.
Keith Rowley Keith Christopher Rowley (born 24 October 1949) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general electi ...
, leader of the 'People's National Movement', accused Gibbs of sitting on his hands and "pandering to the political directorate".


Aftermath of Warner's resignation


Struggle for CONCACAF control

Jack Warner resigned from his position as CONCACAF president after being reported to
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
by the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. This automatically led to 71-year-old Barbadian
Lisle Austin Lisle Austin (26 April 1936 – 5 December 2021) was the President of the Barbados Football Association. Austin was also the President of CONCACAF for a few days in 2011 before being suspended. Career Austin was appointed temporary President o ...
being installed as Acting President. Austin's first act was to attempt to sack Blazer for his role in the removal of Warner. A statement was published on the CONCACAF website stating that Austin did not have the authority to sack Blazer. In response, Austin quoted article 29 from the CONCACAF Statutes that states, "The President has the judicial and extrajudicial representation of CONCACAF." As CONCACAF is a registered not-for-profit company in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, Austin sought an injunction from the Barbadian court which would prevent Chuck Blazer and the executive committee from becoming de facto head of CONCACAF. The Bahamian judge Stephen Isaacs granted an injunction which told CONCACAF to desist "from interfering with Lisle Austin in the discharge of his duties as acting president". Austin also attempted to prevent the CONCACAF using counsel Michael Collins, who had helped put the investigation together. Austin was banned from CONCACAF office in New York and suspended from administrating in football in the CONCACAF region for doing so. The letter was signed by Collins, whom Austin had sought the removal of. Undeterred, Austin released a public statement stating that CONCACAF took pride in flouting the court decision. He complained that his suspension shouldn't be official, as "the presence of four (4) Executive Committee members in the hotel room of Mr. Blazer does not constitute an Executive Committee meeting." Austin was banned by
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
from administrating in football for one year for attempting to challenge CONCACAF's decision in the Barbadian civil courts. Austin lasted just four days as president of CONCACAF and the CFU. In October 2011, the second most influential member of the CFU; CFU's Vice-President and
Jamaica Football Federation The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is the governing body of football in Jamaica and is in charge of the Jamaica national football team and the Jamaica National Premier League. History Early history (1893–1962) According to the JFF, th ...
President
Horace Burrell Horace G. Burrell JP OM (8 February 1950 – 6 June 2017), also known as Captain Burrell, was the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, and the Senior Vice-President of CONCACAF. He was also the founder of the Jamaican restaurant chain T ...
was suspended by FIFA for six months (three months of which were suspended). With Burrell's suspension, all three Caribbean members of CONCACAF had been suspended due to the scandal. Honduran Alfredo Hawit was appointed as acting President of CONCACAF, becoming the first non-Caribbean CONCACAF President since 1990.


CFU Presidency

In addition to Austin and Burrell's suspensions, another CFU vice-president, Guyana FA's President Colin Klass was suspended for 26 months. Due to the additional suspension of Klass, and the resignation of Lionel Haven, the
Haitian Football Federation The Haitian Football Federation (FHF) (french: Fédération Haïtienne de Football, ht, Federasyon Foutbòl Ayisyen) is the governing body for association football, football in Haiti. The FHF is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game ...
President Yves Jean-Bart became acting president of the CFU.


Relocation of headquarters

CFU general secretary Angenie Kanhai had been prevented from entering the CFU office (owned by Jack Warner) in Port-of-Spain due to her compliance at the FIFA Ethics Committee hearing. She relocated and worked whilst stationed at the
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...
headquarters in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, outside of the CFU's remit. In an open letter Jack Warner made accusations of conspiracy in an open letter; "I will also give you detailed accounts of the conspiracy against the CFU by one of its own, who secretly videotaped that meeting for Chuck Blazer and was rewarded with an office in Miami and a higher salary and who unilaterally moved the CFU’s 33-year-old office from
Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
to Miami so that every Caribbean official wanting to do football business in the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
had to get a US visa." Harold Taylor, a Trinidadian CFU presidential candidate questioned the thought behind the moving the CFU headquarters to Miami. "The office of the Secretariat is in the territory where the General Secretary resides. The General Secretary is from Trinidad, so how can you have the Secretariat in Miami? It is unthinkable to have a CFU office in Miami ... too many members in the CFU must get a visa to go to Miami and some of them cannot even get visas and you have at least one permanent member of the Union who can’t even go to the US, so how could you put the office in Miami,". Kanhai resigned from her position in December 2011: "I regret to have taken this decision at a time such as now, a period of upheaval and change, but I was forced to face, like all of you, the emotional, psychological and physical toll paid over the last months,"


Delayed congress

An
extraordinary general meeting An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wou ...
for the CFU was scheduled for 20 November 2011 in
Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. Four representatives expressed an interest in becoming the CFU president. These were the suspended
Horace Burrell Horace G. Burrell JP OM (8 February 1950 – 6 June 2017), also known as Captain Burrell, was the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, and the Senior Vice-President of CONCACAF. He was also the founder of the Jamaican restaurant chain T ...
(Jamaica), Tony James (Jamaica), former CFU secretary Harold Taylor (Trinidad) and Gordon Derrick (Antigua and Barbuda). It was also suggested that Yves Jean-Bart (Haiti) and Luis Fernandez (Cuba) may express an interest in the position. As a result of his Burrell's suspension, it was questioned whether he was eligible to be a candidate for the vote. Burrell's suspension would end on 16 January 2012. The congress meeting was delayed and rescheduled for 15 February 2012, after Burrell's suspension had elapsed. The congress never took place. Horace Burrell, the front-runner for the presidency position announced that he would not put his name forward for CONCACAF presidency and that he would prefer to become CFU president. He recommended the
Cayman Islands Football Association The Cayman Islands Football Association is the governing body of football in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands Football Association governs all National Team programs, youth development leagues, Women's league and the Cayman Islands Men's Pr ...
president and his business partner Jeffrey Webb for the CONCACAF role. Derrick was voted in as CFU president in May 2012.


FIFA investigation outcome

In 2011, 31 members of the CFU were investigated by the 'FIFA Ethics Committee' due to the cash-for-votes scandal. The outcome of those investigations are shown in the table below. The general secretary and whistleblower Chuck Blazer was also investigated by FIFA. An accusation of racism was made, a letter from the
Jamaica Football Federation The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is the governing body of football in Jamaica and is in charge of the Jamaica national football team and the Jamaica National Premier League. History Early history (1893–1962) According to the JFF, th ...
noted that Blazer only told Caribbean officials they were being investigated said that Blazer "discriminated against Capt Burrell and certain members of the Concacaf through his contemptuous and denigratory words since all the persons who were singled out were of a specific race". Blazer had also told Burrell he could not become Vice-President of CONCACAF as he was being investigated by FIFA. Blazer was given a warning by FIFA as the investigations into the CFU officials had not yet began when he told people they were under investigation. In July 2012, the former Dominican prime minister Patrick John was banned from presiding over the
Dominica Football Association The Dominica Football Association is the governing body of football in Dominica. The Dominica national football team is the national team of Dominica and is controlled by the Dominica Football Association. The national league of Dominica is the ...
for his part in the corruption scandal. A vote was carried out by the Dominican football club association.


Warner's response

In August 2011, Warner stated that he saw the investigation as an assault on the Caribbean nations asking "why is FIFA targeting the Caribbean, why is FIFA going after the Caribbean leadership." Later that year, Warner described the rebuilding process as a " coup d'etat" and described the investigation as "unethical" and "immoral". He referred to the CFU members who had worked with FIFA as "cowardly men and women". During his time as CFU President, Warner had also acted as a
whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
since 1983 priding himself on delivering a unified 'Caribbean-bloc' vote, he felt that the CFU were now ready to "accept the crumbs of the FIFA President when in the very recent past these same men and women used to dine at his table as equals". He said: "In one fell swoop, the Caribbean football leadership has now undone its struggle of some 33 years and has disrespected the entire region!" Warner described FIFA as arrogant and that they would "ride roughshod over duly appointed officials of both the CFU and the CONCACAF". He stated that those CFU members complying with FIFA would "destroy an entire region for their own selfish and self-serving motives"


Bin Hammam's legal challenge

On 29 May 2011, FIFA's ethics committee suspended Bin Hammam temporarily from all football-related activity pending the outcome of a full inquiry into accusations that they offered financial incentives to members of the
Caribbean Football Union The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated to FIFA. The Union was established in Januar ...
. Bin Hammam said that he would appeal against the committees decision to provisionally ban him from football related activity, saying that "The way these proceedings have been conducted is not compliant with any principles of justice." He also issued a statement calling for his reinstatement as well as responding to the claims in detail. On 23 July 2011, Bin Hammam was banned for life from all football activities by a five-member panel of the
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
Ethics committee chaired by Petrus Damaseb. The committee found that his actions violated the organization' ethics rules after studying the reports of investigators and hearing the testimony of witnesses from the May 2011 meeting who were also cross examined by Bin Hammam's legal representatives. Bin Hammam appealed against his ban, his appeal was rejected by the FIFA Appeal Committee. His ban from football resulted in his loss of position as the President of the Asian Football Confederation, having been replaced by
Zhang Jilong Zhang Jilong (; born 9 February 1952) is a Chinese football administrator who is the current senior vice president of the Asian Football Confederation. He previously served as Vice President of AFC from 2002 to 2011 and as Senior Vice President f ...
of China on a temporary basis, although Zhang Jilong has since announced that he'd like to remain as AFC Presidency. In July 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in Mohammed Bin Hamman's favour, CAS referred to it as "...a situation of 'case not proven,'" because FIFA didn't have documentation of monies being transferred and thus "the investigation was not complete or comprehensive enough to fill the gaps in the record". The court added that it "is not making any sort of affirmative finding of innocence in relation to Mr. Bin Hammam". Bin Hammam said: "I'm very happy because I've been able to prove that all the allegations against me were false and were intended to tarnish my reputation."


References

{{reflist, 30em Caribbean Football Union Bribery scandals Association football controversies
scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
2011 controversies