Football: Hammam absent at CAS appeal

Hamman fighting allegations of trying to buy Fifa delegates’ votes.

GENEVA: Mohamed bin Hammam was absent yesterday as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) met to determine the powerful Asian regional football chief’s future in football. Bin Hammam is appealing to CAS to overturn a lifetime corruption ban. The 62-year-old is fighting allegations that he tried to buy Fifa delegates’ votes while campaigning to unseat the world body’s long-standing president, Sepp Blatter, in a leadership election last year. Bin Hammam said the cash hand-outs were merely gifts, and he describes the charges and his punishment by Fifa as politically motivated. The scandal earned him a life ban from football. However, the hearing is being closely watched in Kuala Lumpur where the Asian Football Confederation has been under interim stewardship for nearly a year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2012.