Bin Hammam to fight FIFA ban

Mohamed Bin Hammam has vowed to fight the life ban for corruption handed down to him by the FIFA ethics committee.

Qatari Bin Hammam, formerly president of the Asian Football Confederation, was a challenger to Sepp Blatter in the FIFA Presidential elections before his withdrawal in May following corruption allegations.

He was suspended from FIFA activities after being accused of attempting to bribe Caribbean Football Union officials to secure their support in his bid to oust Blatter.

On Saturday the ethics committee handed him a life ban, precluding him from all FIFA activites.

But the 62-year-old is unlikely to go quietly, threatening to take the matter to an independent court to force FIFA to publicise the details of their case against him.

“This is just the battle, not the war,” Bin Hammam said via twitter and his website.

“I reject the findings and maintain my innocence and will continue to fight through the legal routes available.”

“We are confident of the strength of our case and invite FIFA to make available now to the media a full transcript of these proceedings.”

Lawyers representing Bin Hammam also released a statement questioning FIFA’s findings.

“The FIFA ethics committee have apparently based their decision upon so called ‘circumstantial’ evidence, which our case has clearly demonstrated was bogus and founded on lies told by a senior FIFA official,” lawyer Eugene Gulland said.

“FIFA, either directly or through third parties, with selective and continual leaking of documentation that have been part of these proceedings to the media (has sought) to influence public opinion and create bias.”

Acting AFC President Zhang Jilong, the favourite to succeed Bin Hammam as head of the confederation, was disappointed by the findings, but accepted FIFA’s decision.

“This is a sad day for (the) AFC and Asian football,” Zhang said.

“AFC respects world football governing body FIFA’s decision and we also acknowledge former AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam’s inalienable right to lodge an appeal against the decision.”