ZURICH: FIFA's ethics committee cleared President Sepp Blatter of any wrongdoing as two of soccer's most senior officials were suspended Sunday in the worst corruption scandal to blight the sport's governing body. Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, who hours earlier had ended his campaign to unseat Blatter, was temporarily suspended along with Jack Warner, president of the CONCACAF region covering north and central America and the Caribbean. Blatter was cleared of any breach of FIFA's statutes following an emergency sitting of the independent committee, freeing him to stand unopposed for a fourth term in charge of world soccer's governing body in Wednesday's election. Bin Hammam and Warner were accused of arranging to pay delegates of the Caribbean Football Union $40,000 in cash to vote for Blatter's only rival. Both men are long-standing members of FIFA's all-powerful 24-man executive committee, 10 of whom have been subject to allegations of corruption in the last year. Bin Hammam, head of the Asian Football Confederation, and Warner, a government minister in his native Trinidad & Tobago, are now temporarily suspended from any soccer-related activity. Both will be absent from the Congress where Blatter can expect to be re-elected to the post he has held since 1998. The case against Warner and Bin Hammam, who have denied any wrongdoing, will be heard in July, according to Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb who chaired Sunday's meeting. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who faced tough questioning during a feisty hour-long news conference, said the election would go ahead unless three-quarters of the 208 delegates voted to change the agenda. “I am not FIFA, I can't change the agenda,” Valcke said. “It is up to the delegates — they have the final say.” Valcke agreed that FIFA was facing “a watershed moment”, drawing comparisons with the International Olympic Committee's crisis when IOC delegates were found guilty of taking bribes for votes to award the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City. This crisis, with its tentacles spreading into the very heart of the senior governance of the world's most popular and richest sport, has arguably greater implications. Unlike fairly anonymous IOC officials, Blatter is the most famous sports politician in the world, who has worked for FIFA for more than 35 years and been president for the last 13. During his time in charge, FIFA has grown rich through sales of TV rights, sponsorship and merchandizing opportunities and currently boasts reserves of over $1 billion. While FIFA's financial situation is sound, recent scandals have provoked widespread calls for reform of the powerful executive committee at the organization's heart. Last November, two other exco members, Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu, were banned over the cash-for-votes allegations concerning the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Asked if this was the lowest point in FIFA's 107-year history, Valcke replied: “The reputation of FIFA? Maybe it's not at the highest, that's clear. It's sad.” He also dramatically produced an e-mail from the president of the Puerto Rico FA who stated that he had been offered a $40,000 inducement, which he accepted, reported and was sending to FIFA. In a short statement issued after the press conference, Blatter said: “The FIFA Ethics Committee has reached its decisions. I do not wish to comment in detail but simply to say that I regret what has happened in the last few days and weeks. “FIFA's image has suffered a great deal as a result, much to the disappointment of FIFA itself and all football fans.” The key allegations concerned a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union in May 10-11 in Port of Spain, attended by Warner and Bin Hammam and Caribbean soccer officials.
