FIFA to expand bribery charges against Mohammed Bin Hammam

World football governing body FIFA is to expand its enquiry into bribery charges against its suspended Vice-President and former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohammed Bin Hammam.

Bin Hamman, who has been suspended by both organistions, is now being investigated for financial management while at the helm of the AFC, with the new inquiry set to focus on matters revealed by an internal audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

PwC described Bin Hammam as managing an AFC sundry account as his personal account while also questioning negotiations and terms of a $1 billion master rights broadcasting agreement with Singapore-based World Sports Group.

The FIFA investigation of Bin Hammam coincides with an investigation of the conduct of Qatar's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar's assertion that Bin Hamman, a Qatari national, was not involved in the World Cup bid despite the fact that he was the most important figure in Asian football at hat time has been widely questions.

 FIFA's investigation comes on the back of a decision to expand its enquiry into bribery charges against Bin Hammam.

The enquiry is likely to focus on an internal audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which described described Bin Hamman as managing an AFC sundry account as his personal account as well as the negotiation and terms of a $1 billion master rights agreement with Singapore-based World Sports Group (WSG) concluded by the AFC on Bin Hammam's authority.

A Singapore court last week instructed respected journalist and football scholar James M. Dorsey to reveal his sources for his reporting on the audit and Bin Hammam's relationship with WSG.

To date, Dorsey has not commented on the ruling although he has written on the matter on his Blog.

Throughout the process, Bin Hammam has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has charged that he is the victim of a vendetta by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whom he last year challenged in FIFA presidential elections. Bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy after he was accused of seeking to buy the votes of Caribbean soccer officials.

Sources close to FIFA ethics investigator Michael J. Garcia suggest that the former US district attorney is unlikely to leave no stone unturned and will look closely at all allegations raised in the PwC report.

The report, beyond discussing Bin Hammam's financial management of the AFC and negotiation of the WSG contract, raised questions about two payments totaling $14 million by a WSG shareholder to Bin Hammam's AFC sundry account prior to the signing of the agreement.

The report said that "it is highly unusual for funds (especially in the amounts detailed here) that appear to be for the benefit of Mr Hammam personally, to be deposited to an organization's bank account. In view of the recent allegations that have surrounded Mr Hammam, it is our view that there is significant risk that … the AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder funds and that the funds have been credited to the former President for an improper purpose (money laundering risk)" or that "the AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder the receipt and payment of bribes."

Bin Hammam reportedly furnished FIFA investigators in September with his own independent expert's report from London accountants Smith and Williamson into the AFC account that was said to include a line-by-line explanation of all expenditure.

According to James M. Dorsey, WSG has sought to squash all reporting on its relationship to Bin Hammam and the AFC with its legal proceedings against Dorsey. Its refusal to comment on the PwC report has been reinforced by the Singapore court decision.

 In its only comment publicly available, WSG said in a 28th August letter in which it initially threatened Dorsey with legal action that "PWC are incorrect and misconceived in suggesting that the MRA (master rights agreement) was undervalued. They have neither considered the terms of the contract correctly, the market, nor the circumstances in which it was negotiated."

With acknowledgement to James M. Dorsey, Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog. Dorsey is a regular contributor to this website.

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