November 30 – One of Africa’s most notorious footballing figures says he never believed Sepp Blatter would find himself sanctioned by his own ethics committee as part of the ongoing corruption crisis.
Nigeria’s Amos Adamu (pictured), who used to be a prominent member of the FIFA executive committee, was banned for three years in 2010 for ethics violations in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup ballot.
Adamu says he was surprised FIFA’s ethics committee had the strength to go all the way over allegations of misconduct in office by Blatter.
“Nobody believes that a person like Blatter could face this kind of travail in FIFA,” said Adamu. “I found it hard to believe that Blatter would not be at a FIFA World Cup to present trophies and medals. I must confess, I pity him for being in this mess.”
The irony, says Adamu, is that Blatter created the ethics committee in the first place.
“If they want to ban Blatter so be it. I could remember that it was Blatter himself that made the rules and he is the one facing the music of the rules he made. I was affected once, but thank goodness today I’m off the hook.”
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