FIFA, bin Hammam, Qatari, Asian Football Confederation, FIFA congress, Jerome Valcke, FIFA Ethics Committee
Mohamed bin Hammam withdrew Sunday May 29, from FIFA's presidential election, hours before facing an ethics hearing over alleged corruption during the campaign. – Photo by AP

ZURICH: Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam said Monday he will appeal his suspension by football's governing body over corruption allegations.

A statement issued by bin Hammam's office said the Qatari head of the Asian Football Confederation was seeking to have his suspension from FIFA's ethics committee lifted ahead of the FIFA congress.

Bin Hammam abandoned his bid to run against FIFA president Sepp Blatter early Sunday, just hours before he was suspended by the ethics committee pending the outcome of a corruption investigation.

“The way these proceedings have been conducted is absolutely not compliant with any principles of justice,” bin Hammam said. “I am punished before I am found guilty.” Bin Hammam also accused FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke of political bias in his battle with Blatter, and questioned whether the impartiality of the corruption investigation launched against him.

“I get the impression that the outcome of these proceedings had been defined from the very beginning as it has been made evident at the press conference on Sunday evening at which FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke showed his bias very clearly,” bin Hammam said.

“This is not acceptable as the FIFA Ethics Committee is supposed to be a fully independent body. Therefore, I also expect the further investigation to be influenced and manipulated.”

Opinion

Editorial

Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....
Madressah oversight
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Madressah oversight

Bill should be reconsidered and Directorate General of Religious Education, formed to oversee seminaries, should not be rolled back.
Kurram’s misery
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Kurram’s misery

The state must recognise that allowing such hardship to continue undermines its basic duty to protect citizens’ well-being.
Hiking gas rates
19 Dec, 2024

Hiking gas rates

IMPLEMENTATION of a new Ogra recommendation to increase the gas prices by an average 8.7pc or Rs142.45 per mmBtu in...