Mohamed Bin Hammam Pulls Out Of FIFA Presidential Race (Video)

Chris Wright

29th, May 2011

5 Comments

By Chris Wright

While the rest of the world was watching Champions League final last night, Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hammam took the opportunity to pull out of the two-horse FIFA presidential race…

The cynical among you may already be thinking that Bin Hammam’s decision to withdraw may be in some way connected to the fact that he’s due to appear in front of the FIFA ethics committee later today on bribery charges.

Well, think again:

“I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the FIFA Ethics Committee as I will appear before the Ethics Committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me.

“I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game.

“I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation to all Member Associations and individuals who supported me. I hope that they will not receive my decision with disappointment and frustration.

“I have a special thank you to my friend and colleague Jack Warner for his unlimited support. I am sorry to see that he has to suffer because of me, but I am promising him that I will be with him all the way through thick and thin.

“I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to restore FIFA’s reputation to what it should be – a protector of the game that has credibility through honesty, transparency and accountability.”

To be frank, I can’t even be arsed to come up with a pithy remark to end this flagrant bull-shit with – especially as Bin Hammam seems to be writing his own punchlines these days.

For further reading, we suggest you have a flick through Paul Kelso’s excellent piece in the Telegraph, which also includes some astounding details of the impending bribery hearing.

Video: Al Jazeera