Fifa in crisis live blog - Bin Hammam out of race as ethics committee meets | John Ashdown
Bin Hammam vows to clear name after withdrawing
Storm clouds gather as big hitters fight to clear names
Fifa ethics committee hearing meeting later on Sunday
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5.27pm: Sepp Blatter claims he told Warner that the $40,000 payments should not be made.
5.24pm: Bin Hammam and Warner temporarily banned from football activities.
5.23pm: "We are satisfied that there is a case to answer [against Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner]. There is going to be a full inquiry."
5.22pm: "I started watching this guy talk, went to make tea, came back and he's still got nowhere," writes Will Morrison. "It was a strong brew as well."
5.21pm: "We were not concerned with establishing the guilt or innocence of the parties accused," says Damaseb. Eh? "What we sought to do was to establish whether there appears to be a violation of the Fifa code of conduct."
5.18pm: Mr Damaseb is making the most of this. So far he's told us only what the allegations are. We already knew them. So that's helpful.
5.15pm: "We started proceedings at 9am and finished literally an hour ago." Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester from the CFU, also accused of corruption, were not present.
5.12pm: More procedural waffle and blather come on, get on with it.
5.10pm: "The ethics committee is described in its statutes as a judicial body," says Damaseb. "A judicial committee is independent from the rest of the organisation. Its task is to make a determination on the issues placed before it. Our duty is to be neutral, impartial and independent."
5.08pm: Nicolas Maingot, Fi! fa's Dir ector of Communications, does the introductions and hands over to Petrus Damaseb, who chaired the meeting today.
5.06pm: OK, here we go
5.00pm: I'll be keeping you up to date with all the details right here, but you can also watch online here (that's the press conference you can watch, not me). Fifa currently broadcasting a blank screen and the sort of music you might get on hold if you phoned a gardening centre.
4.56pm: Scratch that. We are going to kick off more or less on time. Journalists are now filing into the press room.
4.47pm: Now hearing that the press conference, originally scheduled for 5pm, has been put back.
4.43pm: "I'm always surprised that the press never mentions Jack Warner's other jobs," writes Rod Stewart. "He is an MP, Minister for Works and Transport in the government of Trinidad and Tobago, and sometimes Acting Prime Minister. There were calls for him to give up his FIFA vice-presidency when he helped form the current coalition government in 2010. The official position is that his FIFA job benefits Trinidad and Tobago." Interesting that on his Fifa profile page he lists "Real estate developer" as his occupation rather than politician.
4.26pm: Getting close to decision time now (if things go to schedule). Still not a hint of a whiff of a whisper of a soupon of a rumour coming out of Switzerland with regards to the outcome.
4.10pm: Away from the meeting rooms of Zurich, it's still 0-0 in a nervy League One play-off final. The juxtaposition of this grubby Fifa episode and one of the great footballing performances at Wembley last night (not to mention the many important end-of-season games going on across Europe) serves as a reminder that while the game can be so great, it also retains an ability to shoot itself in the foot.
3.42pm: Here's! an emai l from Ivan Pope: "I don't understand why there is no commentary on why Hammam has withdrawn from the election 'in order to clear his name'. I mean, the election will be over next week. His name will either be cleared or not cleared by this afternoon. So why did he need to withdraw yesterday, at a time when he can't really do anything? What if the panel today does clear him? Then he'll look a bit stupid as he's given up his opportunity. Or is there something he knows is going to happen today?"
3.31pm: Here's David Conn's view of the day's events thus far and what we might expect later in the week:
"After Bin Hammam's withdrawal overnight, if the presidential vote does go ahead on Wednesday - which is not yet certain - Fifa's statutes will effectively ensure Sepp Blatter is voted in by 'acclamation', unopposed, as he was in 2007. The rules of the organisation state that 'a simple majority' of the votes cast are enough to elect the president. So unless a majority of Fifa's 208 national associations actively votes against Blatter, despite him being the only candidate, which is almost impossible to envisage, he will be elected for another four years. Blatter's 'simple majority' is likely to constitute a large number of votes if the election does go ahead, but he could go through with the votes of only a few. Abstentions, as the English FA has delivered in the election, are simply disregarded; they do not count as a vote against Blatter."
3.19pm: I'll be covering the press conference (due to take place around 5pm) right here, but you can also watch it online as Fifa are live-streaming it.
2.57pm: Here's Matt Scott's scene-setter from Zurich:
A strangely peaceful atmosphere has enveloped Fifa House. Its few football pitches lay! in a si lence befitting an organisation whose recent history suggests its prime focus is now corruption and politics, rather than anything to do with growing the world's most popular sport.
But inside the great glass building, a $100m bunker remote from the eyes of the world, three of its most powerful figures face a battle to clear their names. Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam face questions that could lead to their suspension from all football activity, in what is the most serious challenge ever to have faced this scandal-scarred body.
The depth of the crisis is illustrated by the names of those involved. Blatter is the incumbent Fifa president, who on Wednesday seeks a mandate for a fourth term as football's primate. He has been accused of providing approval for allegedly corrupt payments to be made in the course of presidential campaigning.
Warner is a Fifa vice-president, and the man who says he approached Blatter to ask for permission for Bin Hammam to pay the expenses of officials attending a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union, a regional body serving the Concacaf confederation of which he is president. And until Saturday night Bin Hammam, also a Fifa executive-committee member and the Asian Football Confederation president, was campaigning to run against Blatter for Fifa's top job. He has now withdrawn his candidacy to concentrate on clearing his name; Warner and Blatter also deny any wrongdoing.
2.49pm: Here's AP's Rob Harris on Twitter: "Interesting to note here @ FIFA, press pack formed of intl wires agencies & UK paper/TV reporters. Few journos from elsewhere."
2.33pm: Here's Matt Scott in Zurich: "Wandering around the outbuilding at Fifa House where we press are corralled I have discovered that apparently three of Fifa's 387 personnel are tailors. There is a room marked "Tailors" in which people are frantically sewing badges on blazers. Less than 48 hours before the two-day Fifa congress, ! they are doubtless busy. How they are occupied the other 383 days of the year, I cannot testify. NB: Average Fifa staffer's salary, 2010 US$200,000."
2.02pm: Some strong words from former International Olympic Committee vice-president Dick Pound on the BBC: ""If Fifa is not going to do the game any good, the game may have to do something to Fifa. You could withdraw from Fifa, for example, and say we're not satisfied that the organisation is not being properly run and it isn't a credit to the sport we know and love, so let's have an alternative. That's one possibility. It has been done in other sports."
1.38pm: An interesting idea from Forza77 below the line: "
"I think the fans and media should go after FIFA's sponsers - do visa, addidas, budweiser, whoever want this associated with their products - media should keep on at them, whilst we the fans boycott all associated brands and companies"
1.11pm: This whole shebang was kicked off, of course, by our old friend Chuck Blazer, a man who likes to wear his trousers high. In fact, while we're waiting for Fifa's announcement, you could do worse than take a tour through Chuck's blog. Halloween is a particular highlight.
12.53pm: So who is the man in charge of today's proceeedings? You can read about Petrus Damaseb here and here
12.30pm: So the pieces are being placed on the board. Here's Matt Scott in Zurich: "MBH has come in to Fifa House in the back seat of a large black limo to face Petrus Damaseb's ethics committee."
12.22pm: Today is all about a Fifa ! meeting. And thanks to Fifa.com, you can re-live the best bits (no, really) of Fifa meetings past. Will this week's bunfight make it on to that list? Who knows. Yes, this does smack of filler, doesn't it. Only four hours 38 minutes to go!
12.06pm: The ever excellent Paul Hayward's view:
In their official literature, Fifa kindly offer a list of the honours bestowed on President Sepp Blatter for his efforts to make the world a better place. On his wanderings, the supreme leader has picked up a knighthood from the Sultanate of Pahang, the Medalla al Mrito Deportivo from Bolivia, the French Legion of Honour, the Dove of Geneva and countless honorary doctorates. The scroll is longer even than the charge sheet confronting Fifa officials on Sunday in Zurich, where Blatter, his presidential rival Mohamed bin Hammam and the ubiquitous Jack Warner are among those up before the world governing body's Ethics Committee itself increasingly an example of Orwellian doublespeak.
All across the globe certainly in the Arab states the cult of the leader is under attack. But Fifa still manage to mimic the kind of hilltop state employed by the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup. Yet Fifa are not Freedonia and they are not bankrupt: Groucho's big problem, as head of state. Blatter and his committees sit on reserves of $1.28bn and emote obsessively about spreading this largesse around the five continents, even though no one seems able to say clearly where all the money ends up.
In his mission statement, headed "Fifa Brand Our commitment" (note the word brand), Blatter makes a "promise" "For the Games, For the World". He says: "The world is a place rich in natural beauty and cultural diversity, but also one where many are still deprived of their basic rights. Fifa now have an even greater responsibilit! y to rea ch out and touch the world, using football as a symbol of hope and integration."
Right now the world would probably rather not be "touched" by Fifa.
11.55am: Franz Beckenbauer has offered Uncle Sepp his support: "He did a wonderful job," the former Germany captain told Radio 5 Live. "It's not easy. Fifa is like the United Nations - we have 208 members. It's not an easy to handle, but I think Blatter and his staff are doing a wonderful job." 'A wonderful job'? Really?
11.48am: The big news this morning is that Mohamed Bin Hammam has withdrawn from the presidential race. Here's Matt Scott, in Zurich:
Mohamed bin Hammam has withdrawn from the race to become the next Fifa president and has vowed to clear his name when he appears before the body's ethics committee.
The president of the Asian Football Confederation is facing bribery allegations, alongside the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, while the organisation's president, Sepp Blatter, is being investigated for knowing about alleged bribery. Bin Hammam's decision to pull out of the election means Blatter is unopposed in his attempt to secure a fourth term as the head of world football in Wednesday's vote.
Bin Hammam said: "I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa ethics committee as I will appear before the ethics committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me.
"I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game.
"I have a special thank you to my friend and colleague Jack Warner for his unlimited support. I am sorry to see that he has to suffer because of me, but I am promising him that I will be with him all the way through thick and thin.
"I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to restore Fifa's! reputat ion to what it should be a protector of the game that has credibility through honesty, transparency and accountability. It saddens me that standing up for the causes I believed in has come at a great price the degradation of Fifa's reputation. This is not what I had in mind for Fifa and this is unacceptable.
"I cannot allow the game that I love to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first. It is for this reason that I announce my withdrawal from the presidential election."
Bin Hammam's withdrawal is only one hurdle for Blatter to overcome in his attempt to extend his tenure into a fourth term. The corruption allegations that have engulfed world football and destroyed Bin Hammam's candidacy also threaten him: like the Qatari challenger, he faces an ethics committee hearing on Sunday.
Today's order of play, as it were:
Starting this morning: Fifa's ethics committee meets in Zurich.
At 5pm there will be a press conference where the committee's findings will be revealed.
As a grandiose Fifa statement today explains:
Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam, as well as Caribbean Football Union officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, have been invited to attend a hearing by the Fifa ethics committee at the home of Fifa in Zurich on the same day.
The meeting, which starts in the morning, will be followed by a press conference in the auditorium of the home of Fifa, planned for 6pm CET [5pm BST] (time subject to change). The press conference will be attended by deputy chairman of the Fifa ethics committee, Petrus Damaseb and Fifa secretary general Jrme Valcke.
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