Bullish Bin Hammam vows to clear his name

Mohamed bin Hammam issued a statement maintaining his innocence on the first day of FIFA’s ethics committee hearing into bribery allegations against him and insisted that justice will prevail.

The Asian Football Confederation president began the fight to clear his name in Zurich at the start of a two-day hearing convened to look into claims that he attempted to bribe members of the Caribbean Football Union at a meeting on the FIFA presidency campaign trail in Trinidad in May.

Bin Hammam had been set to run against incumbent FIFA president Sepp Blatter but withdrew from the race in the wake of the allegations and has been suspended from all football activity since May 29.

The 62-year-old Qatari confirmed on his official Twitter account yesterday that he would attend the hearing in Switzerland and this morning launched an astonishing attack against football’s world governing body.

Bin Hammam published a blog on his website under the title ’justice will prevail’, where he labelled FIFA’s evidence as “flimsy”, “weak” and “unsubstantiated”.

Furthermore, the post also expressed his belief that FIFA have already decided to find him guilty of wrongdoing.

“I would like to thank you all for your tremendous backing and your messages of support and encouragement as we approach the concluding stage of the current case before the FIFA ethics committee,” the statement read.

“I want you all to know that my legal team and I remain confident that the case and the evidence presented against me are weak and unsubstantiated.

“They are flimsy and will not stand up to scrutiny in any court of law; that has been clear throughout this process and it remains to be so.

“If we believe earlier press statements made by or on behalf of different FIFA officials or those working for them, then despite the weakness of the case against me, I am not confident that the hearing will be conducted in the manner any of us would like.

“It seems likely that FIFA has already made its decision weeks ago. So, none of us should be completely surprised if a guilty verdict is returned.

“Following the events since my suspension, it now seems impossible, for them to say that they were wrong, although I wish they would have the courage to correct their mistake.

“Rest assured, though, that justice will eventually prevail whether through the FIFA ethics committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport or if necessary, through other courts or legal proceedings in courts where we will be equal and no special privileges will be granted to either party.”

Jack Warner, the FIFA vice-president who was charged along with Bin Hammam, will not face the ethics committee after FIFA dropped the investigation into him following his resignation from all football activities.

However, the cases of CFU officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester will be heard at the hearing in Zurich.

The allegations stem from a meeting for associations of the CFU organised by Bin Hammam and Warner in Trinidad during the Qatari’s campaign to oust Blatter as FIFA president.

Several members of the CFU claim they were offered thousands of dollars in cash for “development projects” at the meeting, with Minguell and Sylvester alleged to have handed over the money.

The timing of the revelations was particularly controversial, coming only a few days before the presidential election.

The investigation was widened to include Blatter after Bin Hammam claimed he knew about the alleged payments, but the president was cleared of any wrongdoing at the same hearing that saw Bin Hammam suspended.

Three days later, Blatter was re-elected unopposed after a campaign led by the Football Association to have the vote delayed proved unsuccessful.

The ethics committee have been investigating the matter since, and a secret report seen by the Press Association on June 22 stated there is “comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming” evidence Bin Hammam tried to bribe officials and that Warner was ”an accessory to corruption”.