FIFA hands Bin Hammam provisional 90-day ban

PARIS (AFP) –

FIFA announced on Thursday that the two newly established chambers on its ethics committee had provisionally banned Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam, pictured in 2011, pending the outcome of a probe into Asian Football Confederation finances.

FIFA announced on Thursday that the two newly established chambers on its ethics committee had provisionally banned Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam pending the outcome of a probe into Asian Football Confederation finances.

Football’s world governing body said in a statement on its website that the ban from “any kind of football-related activity at national and international level” would last up to 90 days.

The decision, taken at the request of the chairmen of the ethics committee’s investigatory and adjudicatory chambers, was designed “to prevent interference” with the investigation into fresh corruption claims against the former AFC chief.

Bin Hammam was last week provisionally replaced after nine years as AFC president and suspended for 30 days after an external audit into the accounts during his time in charge.

Last Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned a FIFA life ban relating to alleged corrupt payments he made to organisation members during campaigning to unseat the long-standing president Sepp Blatter.

But the tribunal stopped short of exonerating the 63-year-old, who spearheaded Qatar’s successful bid to win the 2022 World Cup, saying only that the case was “not proven” due to lack of insufficient evidence.

FIFA’s latest statement said the ethics committee would be assessing the report on the AFC accounts and “assessing the prospects of collecting further evidence relevant to the recently closed CAS proceedings”.