Olympic Council of Asia Denies Buying Votes

Mohamed bin Hammam claimed in a recent Australian TV interview that the OCA is offering cash grants for votes for his opponent, Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa. (Getty Images)(ATR) The Olympic Council of Asia has issued a strongly-worded statement denying allegations it has been involved in vote buying during an increasingly bitter campaign for an Asian seat on the FIFA executive committee.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called for discipline and restraint after world football’s governing body received complaints against both parties contesting the west Asian seat on the FIFA executive committee – world football’s 24-man decision-making body.

Voting members of the Asian Football Confederation will decide on May 8 in Kuala Lumpur whether incumbent Qatari AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam, or Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, will be granted the seat.

But the campaign leading to the run-off has been marred by claims and counter claims regarding the conduct of both candidates. Now the FIFA Ethics Committee – up until now largely untested – has been called in to investigate.

Allegations made by bin Hammam in an Australian television interview that supporters of his Bahraini challenger are offering cash grants through OCA to Asian football associations for their votes has led to a heavily-worded OCA statement.

OCA has not only vigorously denied the claims, but threatened legal action with the backing of 15 countries it claims have been wrongly implicated.

“The OCA has completely and absolutely denied the allegations leveled on it with regard to the rumors concerning the AFC Elections,” the group says in a statement.

“On 16th of April the OCA had been informed by the FIFA Ethics Committee to clarify these rumors. The OCA was quick to respond on the very same day denying the baseless accusations and requested FIFA to name the source.

“The OCA on 17th of April received a reply from FIFA stating that it is not a position to provide any information on the source.”

The OCA says it subsequently ascertained the allegations were made by bin Hammam during the SBS interview.

They add the claims are “without any proof, which is a part of his unwise campaign and has a created a division in football in the Asian continent. The OCA further expects new accusations and rumors from bin Hammam till the elections are completed.

“Clearly, the OCA cannot leave such accusations unanswered and is now Les Murray, member of the FIFA ethics committee, says he felt obligated to report the allegations for investigation. (Getty Images)preparing to undertake legal action against these so called ‘sources’ along with at least 15 countries who have also been wrongly implicated,” the statement continued.

After the interview with bin Hammam, Australian football analyst SBS TV’s Les Murray, who is also a member of the FIFA ethics watchdog, says he had no option but to refer the allegations of vote-buying to FIFA for investigation.

“The allegations were not made by me or SBS but by the AFC president. As a member of the ethics committee, in all conscience I couldn't ignore them and had to report them for possible investigation,” Murray says in an article posted on the public television network’s Web site.

In a report to FIFA Ethics Committee Acting Chairman Justice Petrus Damaseb, who has since ordered an inquiry, Murray wrote, “I have consulted on this matter with two other AFC members of the ethics committee, Justice Robert Torres (Guam) and Dali Tahir (Indonesia). Both agree that the matter should be filed with the ethics committee.”

SBS claims it also sought Shaikh Salman’s response in relation to the claims leveled against his campaign, but received no specific response, although he did release a statement reaffirming his commitment to Blatter’s demands.

“I would like to reassure one and all that it is not only my duty but it is an obligation to respect FIFA's statutes, principles and decisions,” SBS’s Web site quotes the statement as saying.

“I am confident that the elections at the AFC Congress on May 8 in Kuala Lumpur will be held respecting the universal code of fair play and respect for the opponent.”

Bin Hammam believes he has the numbers to maintain his place Peter Velappan is part of a group campaigning against bin Hammam. (Getty Images)on FIFA’s executive committee based on his work to date.

It’s understood South Korea’s football association and former AFC Secretary General Peter Velappan are among a coalition of opponents aggressively lobbying against him.

Japan’s Junji Ogura, Thailand’s Worawi Makudi and Korean Dr. Mong-Joon Chung are the other Asian representatives on FIFA’s influential decision-making body, but only Bin Hammam’s seat is up for election at next month’s AFC meeting.

The FIFA executive committee will decide the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in December 2010.

Written by Anthony Stavrinos

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