FIFA bans Mohamed bin Hammam from football

Former Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam has been banned for life from all football activity by the ethics committee of world football governing body FIFA.

The five-man committee, chaired by Petrus Damaseb, found bin Hammam guilty of seven counts of misconduct including bribery. The decision, whose motivations will not be released by the committee for some weeks, was reached after two days of witness appearances, cross examination and deliberation.

As expected Bin Hammam, who did not himself appear before the committee as it met in Zurich, reacted by dismissing the judgment as entirely unsound.

Eugene Gulland, Bin Hammam's lead counsel, who has successfully represented the Kingdom of Qatar in previous litigations, issued a statement saying "Mr Bin Hammam rejects the findings of the FIFAa ethics committee hearing and maintains his innocence.

"He will continue to fight his case through the legal routes that are open to him. The FIFA ethics committee has apparently based its decision upon so called 'circumstantial' evidence, which our case has clearly demonstrated was bogus and founded on lies told by a senior FIFA official."

FIFA, either directly or through third parties, appears to have done the opposite with selective and continual leaking of documentation that has been part of these proceedings to the media in order to influence public opinion and create bias."

In a moment of high drama as Damaseb exited the stage after his announcement, legal counsel for Bin Hammam took to the stage to voice the accusations about the "lies" told by the "senior FIFA official".

In a separate inquiry following the complaints of seven Caribbean football associations, Chuck Blazer of the CONCACAF Federation was cleared of racial discrimination. He was, though, warned as to his future conduct after being found to have made untrue comments to officials at a CONCACAF event in Zurich in May.

In a statement made after the FIFA decision, AFC Senior Vice President and acting President Zhang Jilong said "this is a sad day for AFC and Asian football.

"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. AFC has nothing more to say on this particular issue.

"I would like to assure our fans, Member Associations, teams, players, marketing partners, in short all our stakeholders and well-wishers, that the AFC Executive Committee is united in its resolve to maintain the great momentum Asian football has achieved in the recent past. Asian football is going from strength to strength and AFC will ensure that we continue to steer steadily on this progressive path.

"This is a difficult period for us because Asian football is currently facing multiple challenges, the biggest of which is match-fixing. I, in my capacity as the acting AFC President, am aware of the urgent need to provide a strong leadership that will work closely with the Member Associations towards creating a climate of trust and confidence. During my provisional presidency, I promise that AFC will govern the continent's football affairs in complete transparency, fairness and harmony."

Bin Hammam stepped down from his position as AFC President on 13th June.

Bin Hammam's co-defendants, the Caribbean Football Union officials Jason Sylvester and Debbie Minguell, received one-year bans.

23rd June 2011 - FIFA REPORT CLAIMS 'OVERWHELMING' EVIDENCE OF BIN HAMMAM CORRUPTION

18th October 2010 - FIFA FACES CALL TO DELAY WORLD CUP BID VOTE AFTER CORRUPTION CLAIMS

12th March 2010 - QATAR’S BIN HAMMAM FACES TOUGH FIGHT FOR FIFA TOP JOB