Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has been banned from football for life after being found guilty of attempted bribery.
The governing body’s ethics committee made the decision today after a two-day hearing.
Bin Hammam was accused of attempting to buy votes ahead of last month’s FIFA presidential election.
The 62-year-old Qatari withdrew from the election, leaving Sepp Blatter to be re-elected unopposed.
The decision makes Bin Hammam the most senior figure to be banned by FIFA in its 107-year history.
The former head of the Asian Football Confederation is now unable to be involved “in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life”, FIFA ethics committee deputy chairman Petrus Damaseb said today.
A spokesman for Bin Hammam’s legal counsel said they rejected the committee’s findings.
“He maintains his innocence,” the spokesman said. “He will continue to fight his case through the legal routes that are open to him.”
Bin Hammam, along with former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, was suspended after a leaked report revealed four Caribbean Football Union (CFU) associations were either offered money, or saw the offence occur, during a meeting in May.
It was alleged that cash-stuffed envelopes containing up to US$40 000 (£25,000) were handed to the delegates during the meeting in Port-of -Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (BBC)
