Various FIFA officials have been temporarily suspended following allegations surrounding the selling of votes connected with the 2018 and 2022 bidding process Spain, Portugal and Qatar are being investigated in connection with alleged collusion over voting for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Spain and Portugal are making a joint 2018 bid, while Qatar is eyeing 2022. The probe is part of a wider inquiry by world governing body FIFA into alleged breaches of the bidding rules. On Thursday, the chief of the Portuguese Football Federation Gilberto Madail rejected allegations of any collusion with other candidates. "We received with surprise and indignation the analysis that FIFA's ethics committee may conduct on a rumour circulated in September in the English media about an alleged deal between the Iberian and the Qatari bids for hosting the World Cup," said Madail. "It is odd that there is an attempt to launch completely unfounded suspicions about the Iberian bid at a time when there are news reports about alleged vote-selling for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups involving other bids." FIFA's ethics committee is to report its findings in mid- November after launching separate inquiries into six FIFA officials and two of the bidding candidates. Collusion between bidding countries is explicitly forbidden by the regulations, but FIFA chiefs have ruled out postponing the 2 December vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts. England are bidding for the 2018 finals and are competing against Russia as well as joint bids from Spain and Portugal and Holland and Belgium. Qatar, Australia, the United States, Japan and South Korea are contesting the 2022 vote. FIFA's investigation will run alongside the ethics committee's probe into two senior FIFA officials who have been provisionally suspended after being caught up in a World Cup cash- for-votes scandal. Amos Adamu from Nigeria and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, both members of FIFA's 24-man executive committee which will decide on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, were trapped by a Sunday Times undercover investigation in which they appeared to offer their votes in return for payment. They were secretly filmed by Sunday Times reporters who posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted the event to go to the US. Adamu, 57, allegedly said he wanted $800,000 (�500,000) to build four artificial football pitches. This would be against FIFA's rules. Adamu has since denied any wrongdoing, saying: "I wholly refute all allegations made." Temarii, 43, who played for French club Nantes during the 1980s, is alleged to have asked for a payment to finance a sports academy. He has already pleaded his innocence. "I am 100 per cent convinced of my integrity," Temarii, head of FIFA's technical and development committee, previously told Inside World Football. "That's why I have stayed on." The pair appeared before the ethics committee this week and were suspended "from all football activity" pending a final hearing next month. Four other FIFA officials -- Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismael Bhamjee -- have also been provisionally suspended from taking part in any football-related activity. At the November meeting FIFA will also study alleged agreements between member associations and their bid committees in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. The world governing body did not specify which countries could be under scrutiny. Rumours of collusion between a 2018 bidder and a 2022 hopeful surfaced in September, prompting FIFA Secretary- General Jerome Valcke to warn all countries that mutual voting deals are against FIFA rules. England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and The Netherlands/ Belgium are competing to stage the 2018 World Cup, while the United States, Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea are all in the hunt for 2022. FIFA's 24-man executive committee will decide who wins both ballots on 2 December when they meet in Zurich to conduct a secret vote. The US -- the last remaining non-European bidder -- pulled out of the running for 2018 last week to focus its efforts on 2022. On the same day, England pulled out of the bidding to host in 2022. The allegations of vote selling have plunged the selection process into crisis and FIFA chief executive Sepp admitted "it was a sad day for football" before insisting "confidence will be restored". The Sunday Times footage appears to show Adamu asking for money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a US bid. But Adamu denied any wrongdoing, saying: "Whilst I wholly refute all allegations made, I fully support the inquiry since it is important that these claims are thoroughly investigated. "Only by doing this will FIFA and the wider football community be able to trust that its appointed representatives are beyond reproach. He added: "I am confident that my actions, the full and true extent of which were not detailed in the story published, will demonstrate not only my innocence and integrity, but also my commitment to football and to FIFA." Temarii suggested his comments on The Sunday Times video had been taken out of context. However, FIFA ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser explained that the decision to provisionally suspend Adamu and Temarii was "fully justified and should not be put in question." "It is crucial to protect the integrity of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the code of ethics," added Sulser, a former Switzerland international.(news agencies)
