By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – Asian football has been rocked by fresh revelations that threaten to take the shine off Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa being re-elected unopposed as president of his confederation this week.
At what is already likely to be a heavyweight occasion in Bahrain at the Asian Football Confederation Congress, where three FIFA executive committee positions are also up for grabs, the spectre of banned former AFC chief Mohammed bin Hammam threatens to envelop proceedings just when the organisation is trying to portray itself in a positive light.
The official at the heart of an alleged cover-up is AFC general-secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay, Salman’s right-hand man.
According to reports in his native Malaysia, Soosay allegedly asked for evidence to be removed during the 2012 PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC) internal audit that was prompted by claims of malpractise by bin Hammam and which ultimately led to him being banned for life for a second time.
The explosive disclosures surfaced in a video recording obtained by the Malay Mail newspaper as part of an interview with AFC financial director at the time Bryan Kuan Wee Hoong by FIFA investigator Michael John Pride.
The paper reported that Soosay allegedly asked Kuan to “tamper or hide” PWC documents that could have incriminated him.
Kuan said Soosay had, during a meeting in his office three days earlier, spoken about the PwC audit before allegedly making his request. He claimed Soosay said “protect me” before asking “can you tamper or hide any documents that relate to me?”
“He started by saying how are things going … and then said things are under control. He explained the next steps by AFC and FIFA. He suddenly said ‘protect me’ and I was surprised,” Kuan said in the video.
“He said based on (what) they (PwC) have found out, have ‘I committed any crime and will they blame me for anything? Anything that you have … is it possible to either tamper or hide it somewhere?’
“I said let them investigate. I think everybody understood the situation he was in. When Hammam was in AFC, everybody knew if he asked you to do something, you had to do it.”
Soosay, who became AFC general secretary in 2008, has vehemently denied the claims insisting they are designed to smear his name.
“If there was something, wouldn’t they have investigated me? This is just a smear (campaign) against me; there is no such thing,” he told the Malay Mail as he left for Bahrain. “Where is this coming from and why now?”
“This whole thing is being taken out of context . . . there were no cash advancements … everything [was] documented. PwC has given their report, FIFA has investigated, everything is settled and the case closed. There is no such thing.”
But the story could not come at a worse time for Asian football – and its Bahraini leader in particular – just when Salman and his administration are trying to move on from the bin Hammam affair and put a marker down in terms of transparency and credibility. It will be interesting to see whether AFC reformists push for revisiting the PwC audit, which according to some reports allegedly identified Soosay as having been one of those who authorised certain payments related to Bin Hammam.
Whether he likes it or not, Soosay will be unable to escape media exposure. As AFC general secretary, he will be expected to play a key role in administering Thursday’s agenda in open forum.
To add intrigue to the occasion, as reported exclusively by Insideworldfootball last week, the traditional pre-Congress AFC executive committee session has been scrapped, with Soosay having written to all exco members saying the meeting had been cancelled due to the “tight preparation schedule” ahead of the full congress 24 hours later.
Whilst there is no evidence of a link between the exco being called off and Soosay’s alleged attempts at a cover-up, the episode seems certain to set tongues wagging at what is one of the AFC’s most eagerly awaited summits of recent years, the last major regional gathering of federations before the FIFA presidential election on May 29.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734889072labto1734889072ofdlr1734889072owedi1734889072sni@w1734889072ahsra1734889072w.wer1734889072dna1734889072
