FIFA suspends two executives after World Cup probe

FIFA on Thursday suspended two members of its executive committee for one to three years, after its probe into alleged misdealings in the bidding for football’s 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Claudio Sulser, president of FIFA’s ethics committee, said Nigeria’s Amos Adamu was banned for three years and Oceanian football chief Reynald Temarii for one year.

Both men were fined and four other footballing officials were also sanctioned.

“For Reynald Temarii, FIFA vice president, he was prohibited from exercising any activity relative football for one year,” and fined 5,000 Swiss francs, Sulser told journalists.

“Amos Adamu … was prohibited from footballing activities for three years,” he added.

FIFA has been trying to salvage the credibility of the selection process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups after a controversial sting by undercover reporters for a British newspaper raised claims of vote-buying.

Adamou and Temarii had been suspended temporarily last month pending the full investigation by the ethics committee this week, which also covered allegations of collusion between bidders, notably Qatar and Spain-Portugal.

On Thursday, Sulser said there was no evidence to back allegations that Qatar and Spain-Portugal colluded.

England, Russia and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium are in the running to host the 2018 World Cup while Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are bidding for 2022.

The events of the past month have revived uncomfortable memories of old influence-peddling scandals over the past decade and late 1990s that shook world football’s decision-making body.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has maintained a ballot by the remaining members of the executive committee, including some from bidding nations, to choose the hosts on December 2, after a high powered final pitch by the bidders in Zurich.

However, the normally 24 strong decision-making body is also due to meet for Friday.

Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam on Wednesday criticised the decision to choose the organisers of two World Cups simultaneously.

The Qatari believes voting for one tournament at a time would have reduced the scope of damaging allegations.

“I hope it’s the last time,” Bin Hammam Bin Hammam, from Qatar, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, told the Aspire4Sport conference in Doha.

“From the beginning the Asian members, including me, were not convinced that deciding two World Cups at the same time was a good idea.

“We raised so many objections but the vote was taken and we were outvoted,” on the executive committee, he added.

Blatter, whose post is up for re-election next year, has accepted that with hindsight that decision may have been wrong.

With another report by BBC television on FIFA looming, England 2018 bid chiefs have written to all members of the executive to distance themselves from British media reports, amid fears of a backlash.

England and Spain-Portugal’s existing infrastructure had a favourable review in FIFA’s on-site technical evaluation of the bids, which was released on Wednesday. The US, Japanese and South Korean bids appeared to be best placed for 2022.