Sports court rejects Bin Hammam appeal to be reinstated as FIFA executive committee member

Mohamed Bin Hammam

By James M. Dorsey

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an appeal by Mohamed Bin Hammam against his suspension as head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the AFC said in a statement.

Mr. Bin Hammam had appealed the AFC’s decision in July to appoint Zhang Jilong as acting president pending Mr. Bin Hammam’s appeal against a world soccer body FIFA ban for life on his involvement in soccer on charges of bribery. Mr. Jilong was also mandated to temporarily replace Mr. Bin Hammam on FIFA’s executive committee.

Mr. Bin Hammam had hoped that a decision by Lausanne, Switzerland-based CAS would enable him to participate in FIFA’s next executive committee meeting scheduled for October 18.

Mr. Bin Hammam, who has denied any wrongdoing, was banned by FIFA in July for allegedly bribing officials of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to ensure their support his failed campaign for the FIFA presidency.

Mr. Bin Hammam, a Qatari national, withdrew his candidacy in late May hours before he was suspended pending the FIFA investigation that led to the ban. His withdrawal paved the way for the unchallenged re-election for a fourth term of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer.