FIFA on Wednesday announced its Ethics Committee would meet on Sunday to discuss “possible violations” of the FIFA Code of Ethics. The violations were reported by Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) general secretary Chuck Blazer. They referred to a “special meeting” of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) on May 10-11 allegedly organised jointly by FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Bin Hammam.
The AFC chief is due to stand against current incumbent Blatter in the FIFA presidential elections on June 1 and has vehemently denied allegations of impropriety levelled against him, suggesting the investigation is “little more than a tactic” on the part of his election rival. However, Bin Hammam has now raised the stakes by openly requesting for any FIFA investigation to include Blatter as well.
A statement from the Bin Hammam’s office read: “The accusations also contain statements according to which Mr. Blatter, the incumbent FIFA president, was informed of, but did not oppose, payments allegedly made to members of the Caribbean Football Union. Mr. Bin Hammam has therefore requested that the investigation by the Ethics Committee be extended to include Mr. Blatter himself. The timing of the accusations so close to the election of FIFA president on June 1, 2011 suggests that they are part of a plan to damage Mr. Bin Hammam and force him to withdraw as a candidate for the FIFA presidency.”
Meanwhile, the United States representative on FIFA's Ethics Committee stated his countryman Blazer deserved credit for reporting the bribery allegations against CONCACAF president Warner and Bin Hammam. New York-based lawyer Burton Haimes will not take part in the Ethics Committee hearing in order to avoid any suggestions of a conflict of interest.
Haimes told Reuters: "At some point you have to stand up for the integrity of the organisation and there has been too much in the press, allegations or questions, over some of the behaviour of people involved in a variety of things. Chuck is a good man, an effective leader, one of the brightest people I've met. He has a great business mind and he cares a lot about this. He had to do it. I understand why it was a very difficult thing for him."
