'Corruption' taints very top of the beautiful game

BRITAIN'S sports minister has called for the suspension of an election to choose the leader of world football's governing body, after its controversial figurehead was put under investigation in a deepening bribery scandal.

Sepp Blatter, the current president of Fifa, will tomorrow face the ethics committee of the organisation he has led since 1998 in what has been described as a "farce" surrounding the beautiful game.

Suspicion has fallen on the 75-year-old along with Mohamed bin Hammam, his only rival for the top job.

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A former president of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) yesterday told The Scotsman that the allegations surrounding both men should be thoroughly investigated, adding that the furore undermined the sport's reputation.

The English FA, which is disillusioned with Fifa after losing out in its attempt to stage the 2018 World Cup, is expected to abstain from voting in next Wednesday's election, but the position of its counterpart in Scotland remains unclear.

An SFA spokesman said: "We reserve our position until the ethics committee investigations are complete."

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Mr Blatter is accused of turning a blind eye to bribes paid to Caribbean voters, and must submit a statement by the end of today ahead of the hearing.

The Swiss national, who is seeking a fourth term as president of the Zurich-based body, has described suggestions he "masterminded" a scandal to remove his bin Hammam from the race as "ludicrous".

He said yesterday: "I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened against me. The facts will speak for themselves."

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Bin Hammam, a Qatari, and another senior Fifa official, Jack Warner, were summoned earlier this week to face the ethics panel. They are alleged by Fifa's executive committee member, Chuck Blazer, to have offered bribes at a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union on 10 and 11 May. Evidence accrued by Blazer claims that bundles of cash worth tens of thousands of pounds were handed over to members of the CFU at the meeting in Trinidad.Bin Hamman, 62, said yesterday there was "increasing evidence of a conspiracy" to stop him running for the presidency, describing the bribery charge as nothing but a "tawdry manoeuvre" to discredit him.

Blatter was asked to attend the hearing after bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, claimed he was aware of some wrongdoing but did not report it, in itself a breach of the code.

The ethics committee is bound by its own rules to investigate any complaint by an executive committee member, making the investigation inevitable once bin Hammam had written to the organisation's secretary general, Jerome Valcke, to complain.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson called for the election to be suspended, saying the corruption scandal had turned the campaign into "a farce".

"With both of the candidates having allegations of corruption aimed at them, the election should be suspended," he said, pointing out that Fifa needed to reform in the same way the International Olympic Committee brought in tough new rules after the Salt Lake City bribery scandal in 1999.

He added: "Sports governing bodies have to be transparent and accountable and change has to happen for the good of world football. Fifa needs to urgently reform in the way the IOC did.

"I don't see how you can have an election process when both the candidates are accused of corruption. It would make a complete nonsense of that process. The sensible thing for Fifa to do now would be to suspend the election and have a robust and independent investigation.

"Anybody with any common sense that looks at this will come to the same conclusion that we have come to. I would be amazed if other countries didn't echo this, especially given that a number of other countries are also concerned about what is happening at Fifa."

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Jack McGinn, former president of the SFA, said the crisis at the heart of football's governing body was discrediting the game, but questioned whether the presidential election could be scrapped at such short notice.

The former Celtic chairman said: "Suspending the election is an option, but another thing they could do is carry on with it but hold off on any appointment pending the outcome of the investigation.

"It's a massive thing to try to stop so near the time, with people travelling from all over the world. It's not imposssible to stop the election, but it's very difficult."

Mr McGinn said he was not sure how the SFA would vote if the election went ahead, but added the ethics committee had to complete its investigations.

"What's happened is disappointing to say the least. But if questions are being asked in regard to honesty and integrity then they've got to be answered, it's as simple as that," he added.

"Any bad news sullies the sport. Whatever it's about and wherever it comes from, it harms the sport. It stands to reason that you expect these institutions to be squeaky clean.I'm not saying they're not, but it just makes people stop and wonder.

"The sooner they get it sorted out the better. If Fifa really do have nothing to hide then everything should be thrown open for investigation."

Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body, Uefa, and a figure who has been tipped to run for the Fifa presidency in four years, described the latest development as "very interesting".

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