CAF deny corruption allegations
The Confederation of African Football labels accusations against FIFA vice president Issa Hayatou ‘ridiculous’.
FIFA vice president and African football head Issa Hayatou denied allegations in a British newspaper that he received a string of favours for backing Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup in a vote that was already marred by accusations of corruption.
In a statement the Confederation of African Football called the allegations against its longtime president ‘fanciful’ and ‘ridiculous’.
| Accusations against Havatou |
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That he received expensive gifts from bin favours on a trip to Doha in December 2009 That he was involved in a payment of $400,000 to his native Cameroonian football federation through FIFA’s Goal project, which bin Hammam headed That he received 60 World Cup tickets from bin Hammam just before the World Cup vote That bin Hammam arranged for Hayatou, who has suffered from ill health, to be treated at a private clinic after he voted for Qatar That Hayatou accepted luxury accommodation and business class tickets from Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee |
The newspaper said that banned former Qatari official Mohammed bin Hammam, once a FIFA vice president, targeted African officials with cash gifts, luxury trips and other favors to influence the voting process four years ago.
Among the denials, Hayatou said bin Hammam did not arrange treatment for him at a private clinic in return for support.
No Emir contact
CAF also said Hayatou did not receive ‘valuable gifts’ on a trip to Doha and has ‘never received any money from Mr. Bin Hammam, the Emir of Qatar or any member of the Qatar 2022 Bidding Committee’.
Hayatou was one of four Africans on FIFA’s executive committee when it chose Russia and Qatar as World Cup host countries for 2018 and 2022, respectively, in a process tarnished by accusations of vote buying.
Ultimately, only three of those African members voted after Nigeria’s Amos Adamu was suspended from the votes and later banned from football for three years for seeking bribes during the bidding process. Adamu was exposed in an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times.
The Sunday Times now says bin Hammam used slush funds to make payments to accounts controlled by the presidents of 30 African football associations as part of an attempt to eventually influence the voting African members on the executive committee.
CAF said Hayatou ‘denied categorically’ the string of allegations made against him.
In 2011, Hayatou was reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee for receiving money from former World Cup marketing company ISL in the mid-1990s.
An investigation into a kickbacks scandal involving former FIFA President Joao Havelange found Hayatou accepted $20,000 from ISL.
He said the money was for a CAF function and not him personally.