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Mohamed Bin Hammam (L) will not challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency. (AFP/Getty Images)
Mohamed bin Hammam has pulled out of the race to oust FIFA president Sepp Blatter, just hours before facing the ethics committee of football's world governing body over bribery allegations.
Bin Hammam, 61, who launched his campaign on an anti-corruption platform and had waged a bitter war of words with the long-serving Blatter, said on his blog that he was withdrawing for the sake of FIFA's reputation.
"I made the decision to run for the FIFA presidency because I was and remain committed to change within FIFA," he said.
"However, recent events have left me hurt and disappointed - on a professional and personal level," bin Hammam, currently the head of the Asian Football Confederation, added.
"It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price - the degradation of FIFA's reputation. This is not what I had in mind for FIFA and this is unacceptable."
"It is for this reason that I announce my withdrawal from the presidential election," he said.
The Qatari official added that he did not want his decision to be linked to the investigation by the FIFA ethics committee and vowed he would appear before the committee to clear his name of the "baseless allegations" against him.
Bin Hammam's statement was the latest dramatic twist in the battle for the top job in football, during which he himself made corruption allegations against his rival, 75-year-old Blatter.
The two men had been due to face off in a June 1 election for control of world football.
Bin Hammam and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, of Trinidad, are due to be questioned by FIFA's ethics committee later Sunday. Both deny any wrongdoing.
They and two Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials will be asked to answer allegations of bribery.
On Thursday, bin Hammam called for the investigation be widened to include Blatter. The committee also summoned the FIFA chief to ask him about claims he knew about the alleged cash bribes at the centre of the probe into bin Hammam.
In a brief statement issued Friday, Blatter said only: "I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened against me today. The facts will speak for themselves".
Bin Hammam and Warner were targeted after Chuck Blazer, general secretary of regional footballing body CONCACAF, reported possible misdeeds during a May 10 and 11 meeting in Trinidad.
British media reports said bin Hammam and Warner are accused of offering $40,000 cash gifts to national associations at the Trinidad conference in return for their votes in next week's presidential election.
During his campaign for the FIFA leadership, bin Hammam vowed to bring more transparency to the running of the organisation.
In his message posted early Sunday, he wrote: "I believe my candidacy has been a catalyst for debate within FIFA and has brought change to the top of the agenda".
- AFP
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Chat about this story w/ TalkitaSource: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/29/3229860.htm
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