FIFA urged to launch new bribery probe

GENEVA (AP):

After banishing Mohamed bin Hammam for life in a bribery scandal, FIFA was challenged yesterday to uphold its zero-tolerance fight against corruption by further examining a now-infamous meeting in Trinidad.

A wider inquiry must consider three more members of FIFA's executive committee who accompanied the Qatari official on his presidential campaign visit and all the Caribbean football leaders allegedly receiving his $40,000 cash gifts, the Transparency International (TI) global watchdog said.

A request by FIFA for new investigations will keep the focus on corruption this week as Sepp Blatter and his organisation gather in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup qualifying draw Saturday.

Adding to the governing body's unease is bin Hammam's reiterated pledge yesterday to fight his life ban through all legal channels in Switzerland. That could result in FIFA and Qatar being tainted by corruption claims for at least 18 months. The 2022 World Cup host has been working hard to quash allegations it won the hosting rights by unethical means.

Top FIFA administrator Jerome Valcke must decide how deep to delve into the most serious scandal in the body's 107-year history.

Another spin

"Everything has to be investigated," TI sports adviser Sylvia Schenk told The Associated Press. "Regarding this meeting there (in Trinidad), regarding other members of the executive committee having taken part in this meeting, and regarding all the delegates. If bin Hammam is punished for giving money, someone has to be punished for taking money. It can't be otherwise."

Bin Hammam's allies on FIFA's 24-man ruling panel - Worawi Makudi of Thailand, Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka and Egypt's Hany Abou Rida - accompanied him on a trip to woo Caribbean voters.

FIFA's code of ethics code requires that "officials shall report any evidence of violations of conduct to the FIFA secretary general," but all three told FIFA investigators that they saw no evidence of wrongdoing in Trinidad.

Up to 15 Caribbean Football Union member countries are under suspicion of accepting $40,000 bribes to back bin Hamman's challenge to FIFA president Blatter, then denying it happened.

Ethics panel chairman Petrus Damaseb, a judge from Namibia, said Saturday he'd asked Valcke to open other cases. Schenk said Damaseb's lack of authority to take up cases was a flaw in FIFA's process.

Statements used as evidence

Evidence presented to Damaseb's five-man panel that convicted bin Hammam included statements from witnesses representing nine CFU members.

The whistle-blowers' testimony could lead to long bans for their Caribbean colleagues, some of whom rejected offers to meet with FIFA's investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Montserrat football association president Vincent Cassell told the AP that scheduled interviews with Freeh in the Bahamas clashed with the opening 2014 World Cup qualifier against Belize - ironically, played in neutral Trinidad.

"We had to make a choice. We weren't involved in whatever they are talking about," Cassell said of the bribery allegations. "So we didn't see it as a priority. Montserrat is a very small fry in the world of football. I didn't think they would see us as important."

Bin Hammam, the Asian Football Confederation president since 2002, is the most senior football official to be found guilty of corruption.