Bin Hamman commented on the status of China’s hosting ambitions after Wei Di, President of the China Football Association, confirmed that the country will not bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup if any of the four other Asian countries - South Korea, Japan, Qatar and Australia - is selected as 2022 host.
ShanghaiDaily.com further reported that China may have missed the deadline to bid for the 2022 tournament due to an ongoing corruption scandal, which has now expanded to include allegations against the former manager of Shanghai's Shenhua Football Club.
In August this year Shao Wenzhong, the head of the commercial arm of China's football association, was detained by police as part of match-fixing probes.
Sina.com also reported that match-fixing suspicions have been raised over the activity of six players in the national team during a game against Oman during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
