Hayatou denies graft allegations
Print Edition
FIFA vice president and African football head Issa Hayatou denied allegations in a British newspaper that he received a string of favors for backing Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup in a vote that was already marred by claims of corruption.
In a statement late on Sunday night and hours after the Sunday Times report, the Confederation of African Football called the allegations against its longtime president “fanciful” and “ridiculous”.
The newspaper said that banned former Qatari official Mohammed bin Hammam, once a FIFA vice president, targeted African officials with cash gifts, luxury trips and other favors to influence the voting process four years ago.
Among the denials, Hayatou said bin Hammam did not arrange treatment for him at a private clinic in return for support. CAF also said Hayatou did not receive “valuable gifts” on a trip to Doha and has “never received any money from Mr bin Hammam, the Emir of Qatar or any member of the Qatar 2022 Bidding Committee.”
Hayatou was one of four Africans on FIFA’s executive committee when it chose Russia and Qatar as World Cup host countries for 2018 and 2022, respectively, in a process tarnished by accusations of vote buying. Ultimately, only three of those African members voted after Nigeria’s Amos Adamu was suspended from the votes and later banned from football for three years for seeking bribes during the bidding process. Adamu was exposed in an undercover probe by the Sunday Times.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
