By Andrew Warshaw
May 12 – FIFA Presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam laid into Sepp Blatter today as the war of words between the pair intensified but was careful not to directly blame his rival for the latest wave of corruption allegations that have made worldwide headlines.
Bin Hammam used the recently announced 10-year, $20 million agreement between FIFA and Interpol to crack down on match-fixing as a classic example of how Blatter wields too much power.
FIFA called the international media to Zurich to announce the initiative at a special signing ceremony on Monday (May 8) but Bin Hammam says the FIFA Executive Committee were never consulted about the deal.
“Currently, the President has taken on too much of an Executive role, as evidenced by the recently announced initiative to donate $20 million to Interpol,” said Bin Hammam.
“Imagine FIFA financing Interpol’s activities.
“This decision was taken arbitrarily by the FIFA President and was not discussed with 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.
“How on earth can we convince people of FIFA’s innocence?”
Bin Hammam, head of Asian Football Confederation and Qatar’s most powerful football administrator, also addressed the new corruption scandal involving six more FIFA members.
Two of them are alleged to have been bribed to vote for his country’s victorious 2022 World Cup bid and Bin Hammam made sure he did not link them to the FIFA leadership, simply declaring that something had to change.
“It has become clear yet again in recent days that something urgently needs to be done to improve and enhance the image of FIFA,” Bin Hammam said on his personal website.
“The name of our great sport and its leading institution have been dragged through the mud once more.
“I will happily and unreservedly restate that I firmly believe FIFA, as a decision-making body and as an organisation, is not corrupt.
“Football is a force for good and FIFA is at the vanguard of making positive changes across the world.
“Much wonderful work is done by FIFA and to label the entire organisation 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.
“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.”
Blatter said he wants an investigation into the latest allegations completed before he defends against Bin Hammam at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 31 and June 1.
But the challenger said it’s FIFA’s overall approach that needs to change most – with a new man in charge.
“A new atmosphere needs to descend upon FIFA,” said Bin Hammam, who has been a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee since 1996, which is even longer than Blatter.
“There needs to be an opportunity for new ideas to take hold and for the organisation to take a new direction.”
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