By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – Liberian football chief Musa Bility, barred from running for FIFA president, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to get the judgement overturned.
Bility was ruled out by FIFA’s Ad-hoc Electoral Committee after failing integrity checks because he apparently had a criminal record. But he says the checks were not carried out under the correct procedure.
“I find this decision of FIFA to be unfair, troubling and disappointing,” Bility said in a statement. “I have appealed to CAS urging that body to act with urgency in the disposition of this matter.”
He has also called on FIFA to share its findings on each presidential candidate with its 209 member associations, rather than just a select few.
“Should only the inner chambers of FIFA and not the voting federations know about the integrity of individuals into whose hands the future of football is to be placed?” he asked.
“I am open to integrity checks and welcome the process. The only thing I insist on is that it is done the right way and that the decisions made are objective, fair and transparent.”
Bility slammed the ad hoc committee for being taken in by media reports and says he was excluded on a false premise.
“The ethics probe which resulted in my disqualification is based on information from ‘tabloid-like’ sources that are not considered credible for such an investigation,” he charged.
He also accused the committee, headed by Domenico Scala, of barring him for purely political reasons. The first, he says, was a Liberian-related issue, while the second was as a result of a six-month suspension handed out by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2013 after he used confidential documents in a legal challenge against CAF president Issa Hayatou.
“None of the alleged breaches in Liberia mentioned in the [FIFA] decision and the investigative report have ever led to a guilty verdict in the courts of Liberia,” the statement read. “In fact, the investigative report uncharacteristically admits a dismissal by the courts.”
“I have repeatedly indicated that I will always stand up for what is right. At the time, I spoke against issues associated with the governance of CAF that I felt were not in the best interests of the development of African football. CAFs Executive Committee suspended me for six months [but] the suspension was lifted halfway into the six months.
“How fair is the conclusion reached by the Ad-Hoc Elections Committee that I should be banned for that wrongful sanction?”
But Insideworldfootball learned at the time Bility was ruled out of taking over from Sepp Blatter on February 26 that the CAF ban had nothing to do with him failing integrity checks, rather that he had a record for “criminal mismanagement and tax evasion”.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734866381labto1734866381ofdlr1734866381owedi1734866381sni@w1734866381ahsra1734866381w.wer1734866381dna1734866381