• Fifa president to be investigated by his own organisation
• Move follows Mohamed Bin Hammam's demands
Fifa have opened ethics proceedings against their own president, Sepp Blatter, in a move which will add to the air of turmoil surrounding the organisation as it prepares for its presidential election, scheduled for next week.
Blatter refused to comment on the move, saying: "I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened against me today. The facts will speak for themselves."
The move follows demands yesterday by Mohamed Bin Hammam, Blatter's only rival in the presidential elections and already the subject of a separate investigation, that the 75-year-old Swiss should be put under similar scrutiny. The organisation is bound by their rules to investigate any complaint made by an executive committee member, of which Bin Hammam is one.
Blatter will appear before the ethics committee on Sunday to answer charges that he knew about alleged cash payments. Bin Hammam will be at the same hearing to answer a charge of bribery, as will another of the most powerful men in football, the Concacaf president and Fifa vice-president Jack Warner.
The allegations against Warner and Bin Hammam centre on evidence that bundles of cash of up to $40,000 were handed over to members of the Caribbean Football Union at meetings in Trinidad earlier this month. Bin Hammam is claiming that Blatter was already aware of the allegations but had not reported them, which in itself would be a breach of Fifa's code of ethics.
Meanwhile, the FA are due to send to Fifa today the report they commissioned by the barrister James Dingemans QC into claims by ex-chairman Lord Triesman that Warner and three other Fifa ExCo members made improper requests during England's 2018 World Cup bid.
It is understood that only the claims against Warner have been corroborated by witnesses. The claim that Warner asked for financial help to build an education centre has been backed up by Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards, while Dingemans' file also includes an email from Warner to Triesman asking the FA to pay for Haiti's World Cup TV rights.
Fifa's statement on Blatter's charge reads as follows: "On 26 May 2011, Fifa Executive Committee member Mohamed bin Hammam has requested the Fifa Ethics Committee to open ethics proceedings against Fifa President Joseph S Blatter on the basis that, in the report submitted by Fifa Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer earlier this week, Fifa Vice-President Jack A Warner would have informed the Fifa President in advance about alleged cash payments to delegations attending a special meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) apparently organised jointly by Jack A Warner and Mohamed bin Hammam on 10 and 11 May 2011 and that the Fifa President would have had no issue with these.
"Subsequently, the Fifa Ethics Committee today opened a procedure against the Fifa President in compliance with art. 16 of the Fifa Code of Ethics.
"Joseph S Blatter has been invited to take position by 28 May 2011, 11am CET and to attend a hearing by the Fifa Ethics Committee at the Home of Fifa (Zurich) on 29 May 2011.
"No additional comments will be made by Fifa until further notice."
--
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/27/fifa-ethics-proceedings-president-sepp-blatter
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar