Adamu absent as FIFA choose World Cup hosts
Amos
Adamu will not be among the FIFA delegates who will determine the hosts
of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments today in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Nigerian, who
was supposed to be one of the 24 individuals involved in today’s voting
process, was handed a three year suspension after he along with Reynald
Temarii, the president of the OCEANIA football federation, were filmed
by undercover reporters from the Sunday Times agreeing to take bribes
in exchange for their votes. Telmarii was suspended for a year.
The suspension of
both men and four former FIFA Executive Committee members by the FIFA
Ethics Committee was not the only controversy as there were also
allegations of a vote-trading deal between the 2018 Spain-Portugal bid
and the 2022 Qatar bid.
Reports in the
international media alleged that seven votes had been lined up for each
of the bids, leaving each five short of the required majority. But
FIFA, on the same day it announced Adamu’s suspension, said it was not
able to prove the allegations.
Voting process
According to FIFA, the lowest-ranking bid will be eliminated in each round of voting until a bid has an absolute majority of 12.
A few days ago, on
Monday, a programme aired by the BBC, Panorama, alleged that three FIFA
executive committee members, including CAF boss Issa Hayatou from
Cameroon, had received payoffs from ISL, the world body’s former
marketing agency, over a ten-year period beginning from 1989 to 1999.
FIFA, on Tuesday,
however denied the allegations and Hayatou explained that the alleged
payoff was a legitimate and approved payment for CAF’s 40th anniversary
celebrations 16 years ago.
“Panorama wanted to
make people believe that we were corrupt,” said Hayatou in a television
interview with Reuters. “What they showed was from 16 years ago. Why
did they not show this before?
“The money was
addressed for CAF. The executive committee knew of it. I asked them if
I should accept and they said yes,” he added.
Today in Zurich, the voting will be done behind closed doors. There
will be no live feed streaming pictures from inside the FIFA
headquarters.
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