English claims that six members of FIFA's executive
committee were involved in corruption during the 2018 and 2002 World Cup
bidding contests have thrown Blatter's bid for a fourth term into disarray.
Since the accusations were made in the British parliament on
Tuesday, FIFA demanded to see evidence to back up the claims against a quarter
of the 24-man group that runs world football.
Bin Hammam, a 61-year-old Qatari who heads the Asian
confederation, responded to the ethics crisis Thursday by criticizing Blatter
on his blog.
“I firmly believe FIFA, as a decision-making body and as an
organization, is not corrupt,” he wrote. “However, under the current status quo
it is impossible to deny that the governing body's reputation has been sullied
beyond compare and it is time for that to change.” Bin Hammam added that “something
urgently needs to be done to improve and enhance the image of FIFA” in light of
the accusations.
Bin Hammam was instrumental in delivering the 2022 World Cup
to Qatar and has dismissed suggestions that there was any wrongdoing in
connection with the bid. The British Parliament was told that two FIFA
executives allegedly were paid $1.5 to vote for Qatar.
“Much wonderful work is done by FIFA and to label the entire
organization corrupt would be to tarnish the efforts of all those who operate
tirelessly to bring all that is positively associated with our sport to people
all over the globe,” Bin Hammam wrote.
He also criticized Blatter for spending FIFA's money “arbitrarily”
by donating $29 million to Interpol to tackle match fixing and betting fraud,
without consulting the executive committee.
“It is just another example of the current regime choosing
to run football how it sees fit, rather than doing so in a manner that is
consistent with the governing body's proper procedures,” he wrote.
“Imagine FIFA financing Interpol's activities!” Blatter, who
has promised to resolve the crisis before the election, won the backing
Thursday of Oceania's 11 football nations.
Oceania Football Confederation President David Chung said
Blatter's leadership had been a positive force in the region.
“All members agreed that the current FIFA administration has
had a significant impact on the development and popularity of football across
the Pacific,” Chung said in a statement.
Blatter, who's been FIFA president since 1998, has also been
publicly supported by leaders of European authority UEFA and South America's
CONMEBOL confederation.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke wrote Wednesday to
England's Football Association asking for a complete report plus “all
documentary evidence” from David Triesman, the former leader of England's 2018
bid. The FA confirmed it was sending the dossier to FIFA.
Triesman told British lawmakers that four long-standing FIFA
officials - Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi -
engaged in “improper and unethical” conduct in the 2018 bidding, which was won
by Russia.
Lawmakers were also told in a submission from The Sunday
Times newspaper that Qatar paid $1.5 million to two more FIFA officials, Issa
Hayatou and Jacques Anouma, for the 2022 contest. Qatar beat the United States
in the final round.
Leoz's spokesman, Nestor Benitez, called the accusations “pure
fantasy and morbid.” The Qatar football federation has denied paying Hayatou,
from Cameroon, and Ivory Coast's Anouma, calling the allegations “wholly unreliable.”
Hayatou, the president of the Confederation of African Football, “categorically
denies” the claims, the African body said. He threatened legal action to defend
his name.
Warner, a FIFA vice president from Trinidad and Tobago,
dismissed Triesman's allegations, saying he “laughed like hell” when he heard
them.
Frank Lowy, the chairman of Football Federation Australia,
said the allegations meant his country's bid for the 2022 hosting rights was
doomed from the start.
“I could have stood on my head for 24 months and we still
couldn't have got it,” he said
