SEPP BLATTER has defended his presidency of Fifa as soccer’s ruling body moved to neutralise a leaked e-mail suggesting Qatar had bought the 2022 World Cup.
Suspended Fifa official Jack Warner, made public an e-mail in which Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke wondered if Mohamed bin Hammam thought he could buy the presidency as Qatar “bought” the World Cup. Mr bin Hammam had planned to stand against Mr Blatter in tomorrow’s presidential election before he pulled out of the race at the weekend.
Mr Valcke issued a statement yesterday denying he meant to suggest anything corrupt about the Qatar bid for 2022, while Mr Blatter gave Qatar his public backing.
Qatar issued a flat denial of any wrongdoing and Mr Valcke said he only meant the Gulf state’s financial muscle enabled them to mount an effective lobbying campaign.
At his news conference yesterday evening, Mr Blatter said Fifa had received no evidence that there were issues with the process to choose the venues of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The recent problems stem from last year’s World Cup votes, when Russia saw off opposition from England and joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal for 2018 and Qatar beat Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States for the 2022 competition.
Mr Blatter, who has run Fifa since 1998, will run unopposed in tomorrow’s election following Mr Bin Hammam’s withdrawal. The Qatari was suspended along with Mr Warner over allegations that Caribbean delegates were offered financial inducements to vote for him instead of Mr Blatter.
Mr Bin Hammam and Mr Warner both strongly deny the allegations. Mr Bin Hammam has vowed to clear his name “from the baseless allegations that have been made”, while Mr Warner has said the allegations are designed to damage them both.
Mr Blatter said he regretted the recent “damaging” allegations.
“Football is not in a crisis,” he said. “Football is in some difficulties and they will be solved inside our family.”
He said four Fifa executive committee members accused of corruption during a British parliamentary hearing had no case to answer.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola, which sponsors Fifa and the World Cup, said yesterday it was concerned about the controversy.
“The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport,” said spokesman Petro Kacur.
“We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner,” Mr Kacur said.
An Adidas spokesman said the company “enjoys a long-term, close and successful partnership with Fifa” but added that “the negative tenor of the public debate around Fifa at the moment is neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners.”