Former Fifa presidential
candidate Mohamed bin
Hammam has won his case
against a life ban from football
on for allegedly bribing voters
during his challenge to
SeppBlatter.
However, the Court of Arbitration
for Sport said its panel was not
convinced bin Hammam is
innocent of corruption – but it
overturned the ban because
Fifa's investigation failed to find
conclusive evidence.
'It is a situation of 'case not
proven,' coupled with concern
on the part of the Panel that the
Fifa investigation was not
complete or comprehensive
enough to fill the gaps in the
record,' sport's highest court
said in a statement.
Despite the legal victory, Bin
Hammam's bid to clear his name
is far from over. Bin Hammam
faces new charges of bribery at
the Asian Football Confederation,
which claimed this week that its
president's financial
management was revealed in a
forensic audit of the governing
body's accounts.
Fifa responded to the CAS verdict
'with concern', saying it will ask
its newly appointed independent
prosecutor Michael J. Garcia to re-
examine the case.
'The Fifa Ethics Committee will
then decide based on the reports
and evidence presented to it if
any action is required to be
taken against Mohamed bin
Hammam,' Fifa said in a
statement. Bin Hammam's victory
at CAS will only partially restore
his shattered reputation.
The panel, which was split 2-1 in
his favor, 'is not making any sort
of affirmative finding of
innocence in relation to Mr. Bin
Hammam,' the court said. 'It is
more likely than not that Mr. Bin
Hammam was the source of the
monies that were brought into
Trinidad and Tobago' at an
election campaign rally in May
2011.
Fifa got evidence from Caribbean
whistleblowers who said they
were offered $40 000 cash
bribes during the 63-year-old
Qatari's electioneering visit. Bin
Hammam denied wrongdoing,
claiming Blatter helped
orchestrate a scandal to
guarantee his election victory
unopposed a few weeks later.
The failure of Fifa's prosecution
at CAS comes after it hired an
investigations agency led by
former FBI director Louis Freeh
to conduct the probe.
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