Following his life ban by FIFA, former Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Bin Hammam insists on seeking justice and proving his innocence. Inas Mazhar writes The former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has been banned from football for life after being found guilty of attempted bribery. The Qatari was accused of paying $40,000 in cash to members of the Caribbean Football Federation which was held in Trinidad and Tobago during his campaign for the FIFA elections for the president's post. The decision was taken earlier this week by the FIFA Ethics Committee after a two-day hearing at the home of FIFA in Zurich. According to the verdict, the former head of the Asian Football Confederation is now unable to be involved "in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life", FIFA ethics committee deputy chairman Petrus Damaseb said in a press conference that followed the meeting. Damaseb read the FIFA statement which then went online as follows: The FIFA Ethics Committee, under the chairmanship of Petrus Damaseb (Namibia), has decided to ban football officials from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for periods of between life and one year, after they were found to have breached various articles of the FIFA Code of Ethics. The decisions, which were taken during a two-day meeting of the Ethics Committee held in Zurich on 22 and 23 July 2011, are the following: -Mohamed Bin Hammam (FIFA Executive Committee member) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of life. -Debbie Minguell (Caribbean Football Union official) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of one year. -Jason Sylvester (Caribbean Football Union official) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of one year. -Furthermore, Chuck Blazer (FIFA Executive Committee member) received a warning for comments he made on 30 May at the CONCACAF Caucus held in Zurich. These comments suggested some Caribbean Football Union members were "under investigation", when this was not true. Surprisingly, FIFA member Chuck Blazer, who received a warning by the Ethics Committee for untrue info, has welcomed the life ban for Bin Hammam as a warning to anyone in football tempted into corruption. Blazer was the one who raised the issue of the bribery which opened the door for investigation and then the ban which had also accused FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, who saved himself from Bin Hammam's act by resigning from FIFA and football weeks ago as the investigations were going on. Despite the tough unprecedented verdict in the 107-year-old history of FIFA which saw one of its senior officials banned for life, Bin Hammam is confident of his innocence and accuses FIFA for taking what he called its �ê�revenge' because he dared to challenge its current president Joseph Blatter in the elections for the president's seat. The 62-year-old Bin Hammam, who stood against Fifa president Sepp Blatter, but withdrew days from the elections, told the BBC's Sportsweek programme: "I was expecting a lifetime ban, actually. That shows how full of revenge these people are. The ban was decided before the investigation even started." Though the Qatari denies paying bribes to buy votes for the elections, he admits he has paid for the travel and accommodation expenses of the 24 members of the Caribbean Federation in Trinidad and Tobago. The former head of the Asian Football Confederation did not attend the ethics committee hearing in Zurich and now believes only the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne can give him justice. A day before the hearings and the verdict, Bin Hammam had a sense that he would not receive a fair trial. In his blog, he feared that he would not receive a fair trial at the hearing. He even suggested he would be compelled to appeal if the committee found him guilty of the charges. Bin Hammam is so determined to clear his name that he said he will fight for it even if it took him to the Swiss Civil Court, which he believes will give him full justice. For many, especially Europeans, the verdict came as �ê�no surprise' as described in some international media reports, especially by the BBC's David Bond who believes that if FIFA is to regain its moral authority to lead world football, then the decision to ban Bin Hammam for life for bribery must be the start of a new era for the organisation and for Blatter who will now feel he has started to deliver on his promises to steer the FIFA ship back onto the right course. But for others, especially in the region, the life ban was a surprise as they believe there has been a conspiracy to prevent an Arab Qatari from reaching that powerful position, the president's seat. The ethics committee has now asked FIFA's legal department to prepare cases against Caribbean football leaders who are suspected to have knowingly covered up the instances of Bin Hammam's bribery attempts as well as prepare cases against FIFA executive committee members who have joined Bin Hammam in the Trinidad and Tobago visit in May. This includes Egypt's Hani Abu Rida, Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka and Thai Worawi Makudi. So, it looks that FIFA will be busy in the coming months. Let us follow that tug of war between FIFA and Bin Hammam.
