Bin Hammam takes aim at Blatter as FIFA Presidential race intensifies

By Andrew Warshaw

May 16 – Mohamed Bin Hammam today hit back at Sepp Blatter’s assertion that a vote for the Qatari challenger at next month’s FIFA Presidential election would result in the organisation “disappearing into a black hole”.

In an article posted on his website, Bin Hammam accuses Blatter of selfishness as the vitriol between the two men continues to grow.

Last week, Blatter launched arguably the most forceful defence yet of why he should remain in charge, saying June 1 would be an “all or nothing” ballot.

But Bin Hammam has now retorted that the organisation can carry on perfectly responsibly without Blatter in charge.

“To make the declaration ‘it’s me or no one’ is a selfish, false and incorrect way of thinking,” he writes.

“Football embraces all races, cultures and religions; it celebrates our differences and yet it allows us to possess a commonality through sport that might not otherwise exist.

“That is the great power of this game we all love.

“While other sports have mass appeal, none provoke the passion or possess the positive power of football and FIFA, throughout the 107 years of its existence, has played a leading role in cultivating and nurturing that depth of feeling around the world.

“We have seen throughout the game’s history – and especially through the work done by visionaries such as FIFA Presidents Jules Rimet and Joao Havelange – that our sport transcends all barriers.

“It brings together warring nations; it promotes peace and encourages tolerance. And because of that, football belongs to us all.”

Spats between Blatter and bin Hammam have become increasingly ugly as the ballot approaches.

Blatter has just visited the Palestinian territories, regarded by some as safe Bin Hammam territory, to launch a new $1.8 million ($1.1 million) investment but the Qatari is not allowing the 75-year-old Swiss to get away with stealing the limelight.

“Our sport is not the sole domain of any race, colour or creed, on or off the pitch,” writes Bin Hammam, head of the Asian Football Confederation.

Blatter, he says, is not FIFA – and vice-versa.

“No one person is so fundamentally important to the future of our game that its very future depends on their involvement,” he writes.

“To suggest otherwise is to seek to disenfranchise the countless millions who take pride and pleasure from our great sport.

“We are all merely guardians of the sport and it is in all our interests to work together for the good of the game.

“FIFA has been leading the way for more than a century; it has endured and prospered, thrived and developed since its founding in 1904.”

Using modern football parlance, bin Hammam says no one man is bigger than the game itself and suggests Blatter is too big for his boots.

“None of us are bigger than football and we should, instead, act as its humble servants, safeguarding its future for the generations to come,” he writes.

“To do otherwise would be a dereliction of our duties.”

Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734840551labto1734840551ofdlr1734840551owedi1734840551sni@w1734840551ahsra1734840551w.wer1734840551dna1734840551