AFC Suspends Bin Hammam for Financial Wrongdoing

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has suspended former President Mohamed Bin Hammam after an audit of their accounts revealed fresh allegations of financial wrongdoing, the body said in a statement.

Bin Hammam, who is fighting a life ban by FIFA for bribery, was suspended for 30 days by the AFC.

The AFC said he had been suspended for “events surrounding the negotiation and execution of certain contracts and with the financial transactions made in and out of AFC bank accounts and his personal account during the tenure of Mr. Bin Hammam’s presidency.”

Bin Hammam of Qatar challenged Sepp Blatter for FIFA presidency last year.

He withdrew his candidacy, and was then provisionally suspended, days before the election over allegations that he had tried to buy the votes of Caribbean officials by handing them $40,000 each in brown envelopes. Bin Hammam was found guilty of breaking seven articles of FIFA’s ethics code, including one on bribery.

Bin Hammam, who has denied any wrongdoing, was banned for life and subsequently lost an appeal at FIFA. He has appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.{jcomments on}