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Amos Adamu appeals FIFA bribery ban to CAS Former FIFA executive committee member Amos Adamu has appealed to sport's highest court to overturn his three-year ban from football for seeking bribes.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday that Tongan official Ahongalu Fusimalohi has also appealed his two-year ban on separate corruption charges linked to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests. "In both cases, the appellants request that they be found not guilty and the sanctions against them be annulled," the court said in a statement. The court has not fixed a hearing date. FIFA's ethics court sanctioned Adamu, Fusimalohi and four other senior officials last November in a scandal that threw the World Cup bidding process into turmoil. Adamu, a former Nigerian sports minister, was found guilty of seeking bribes from British undercover reporters posing as bid lobbyists. The Sunday Times had published edited video showing Adamu asking for $800,000 (590,000 euros) paid directly to him to build four artificial football fields in his native country. He said this could influence how he voted in the Dec. 2 elections. He was suspended before the December vote and lost his place representing Africa on FIFA's 24-member ruling panel. Adamu denied wrongdoing but FIFA's appeals panel upheld his punishment in February. Fusimalohi was among four former members of FIFA's high command who were suspended after advising the reporters how to bribe FIFA officials and to pay $1 million. CAS did not say Thursday if former Oceania football president Reynald Temarii, Adamu's former executive colleague, appealed his one-year ban for breaching FIFA loyalty rules. Temarii also was secretly filmed by the newspaper, appearing to suggest he could receive money to fund a football academy in Auckland, New Zealand. FIFA's ethics court cleared the Tahitian official of acting corruptly. Without Adamu and Temarii, FIFA's executive committee chose Russia to host the 2018 World Cup and awarded the 2022 event to Qatar. Like Fusimalohi, Tunisian lawyer Slim Aloulou and Malian official Amadou Diakite were trapped by The Sunday Times' reporters. Aloulou, who was banned for one year, and Diakite, who got a two-year ban, are also entitled to appeal to CAS. A sixth official, Ismail Bhamjee of Botswana, accepted his four-year ban imposed by FIFA's ethics panel.
