Blatter blames rival for bringing in man alleged to have delivered Qatar bribes

By Andrew Warshaw

May 21 – With 10 days to go until the FIFA Presidential election, Sepp Blatter took another opportunity today to address African football leaders before moving on to Japan for the final leg of his lobbying campaign.

As the one-year anniversary of last year’s World Cup beckons, Blatter attended a meeting of the various African regional groups in Johannesburg, ostensibly to discuss the tournament’s legacy.

But it also gave him the perfect opportunity meet with 37 members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the last time before the election as he seeks a fourth term as head of world football on June 1.

Among the attendees were the President of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Suketu Patel, the President of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Leodegar Tenga, the President of the Union des Federations de Football d’Afrique Centrale (UNIFAC) Mahomed Iya, the Secretary-General of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Aka Malan and the President of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Kirsten Nematandani.

At a press conference afterwards, Iya read a declaration indicating the entire group’s strong support for the re-election of Blatter.

“The National Associations from various regions in Africa, namely COSAFA, CECAFA, UNIFAC and WAFU, gathered in Johannesburg on 21 May 2011 on the occasion of the meeting on the ‘Legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup for the African continent’, declare our support for the re-election of Mr Joseph Blatter to serve a further term in office from 1 June 2011” the declaration said.

Although CAF’s Executive Committee has also openly declared its support for Blatter, his Qatari challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam is nevertheless believed to have significant support among Africa’s 53 federations – a quarter of FIFA’s total membership.

Blatter said all the right things, praising both the organisation and passion of last year’s World Cup hosts and reserving special praise for former South African president Nelson Mandela, who played an ambassadorial role.

The trip gave him a rare respite from the latest wave of corruption allegations swirling around FIFA.

But just before he left, he was quizzed by reporters over the role of Amadou Diallo, the former FIFA employee based in Paris but originally from Guinea who, it is claimed, was the go-between when bribes were allegedly paid by Qatar to two African FIFA members in exchange for backing their 2022 World Cup bid.

Both Blatter and Bin Hammam are playing down their association with the alleged fixer who worked on FIFA’s Goal Bureau, the committee headed by Bin Hammam which distributes money to football development projects across the world.

Diallo was paid on a freelance basis from 2001 until 2007 directly from Bin Hammam’s budget and has emerged as a key player in the latest bribery claims that suggest Qatar paid $1.5 million (£917,000) to both Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast.

Blatter confirmed to reporters that Diallo was at one time on the FIFA payroll and that he was not happy the same man is now caught up in corruption allegations.

Hinting it was Bin Hammam’s responsibility to have employed Diallo, Blatter said: “It disappoints me.

“I knew Diallo because he was around before we started with the Goal project, he was brought in by Bin Hammam.

“He’s everywhere this guy.”

Blatter said most people employed by FIFA were of good character and refrained from dishing any dirt after leaving the organisation.

But, he admitted, there were exceptions.

He said: “There are those who have left FIFA, directly or indirectly, and they are now whistleblowers all around the world, not only now but also before.

“This is a question of character.

“So ask Diallo if he’s happy in his position, what he’s doing. He’s a small, nice, smiling guy, always smiling.”

Speaking of whistleblowers, Blatter revealed last week that the person who has been aiding The Sunday Times newspaper in its corruption investigation, understood to be a former Qatar bid committee employee, has been invited to provide evidence to FIFA.

It is not known if or when when the person involved will actually travel to Zurich but insideworldfootball understands certain conditions have been laid down protecting the person’s identity and that a London-based law firm has been instructed to act on the source’s behalf.

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