Desperate Hammam urges FIFA facelift

FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has vowed greater transparency should be elected but denies the governing body is corrupt.

Bin Hammam, who is running against incumbent Sepp Blatter in the June 1 vote, has seen his campaign for election take a dive amid fresh allegations of vote-buying by Qatari bid officials.

A British parliamentary inquiry has heard allegations that officials offered two Confederation of African Football FIFA executives US$1.5 million in bribes in return for their votes.

Blatter, who is seeking a fourth and final four-year term as FIFA chief, has hinted that Bin Hammam may have acted as the go-between between the executives and the Qatari bagman.

The Swiss has also proposed stripping Bin Hammam’s native land of the 2022 World Cup should they be found guilty of corruption.

Despite the allegations, Bin Hammam denied that FIFA is a corrupt organisation and said that football’s governing body merely needs fresh leadership after 12 years under Blatter.

“People want to see more transparency in FIFA which is accused of being corrupt whereas it isn’t,” said Bin Hammam, who is president of the Asian Football Confederation.

“What has been lacking has been this transparency which we haven’t been able to get through to the public. That will be top of my priorities.”

“When Blatter took over FIFA he clearly made it known that he wouldn’t do more than two terms, while in fact he is in his third and bidding for a fourth.”

“And to tell the truth FIFA has seen no real evolution during the last three or four years. He contributed a lot to the development of football but he’s been there too long and it’s time for new leadership of FIFA. Change isn’t a bad thing.”

“Competition, whether it be for the presidency or any other position, is essential to ensure the vitality of an organisation.”

“The proof. Once I presented my candidature Blatter began to propose new ideas which he wouldn’t have done if there was no rival.”

Bin Hammam could be in for more pain on Wednesday, with a whistleblower expected to testify to FIFA about corruption in the 2022 bidding process.

Qatar’s bid team have moved to pre-emptily discredit the testimony by describing the witness as an embittered ex-employee with an axe to grind.