Bin Hammam gives up FIFA presidential candidacy

Source:Xinhua Published: 2011-12-21 19:44:00

Mohamed bin Hammam announced Sunday to pull out of FIFA's presidential election, scheduled for Wednesday, after being accused of corruption.

"Recent events have left me hurt and disappointed on a professional and personal level," the Asian Football Confederation president said at his personal website.

"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," he continued. "I cannot allow the name that I loved to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals."

"I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the FIFA ethics committee as I will appear before the ethics committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me," he added.

Bin Hammam, formerly the sole candidate besides the 75-year-old Sepp Blatter who has reigned the world governing body of soccer for 13 years, is due to face a FIFA ethics hearing on Sunday alongside with Blatter and FIFA Vice President Jack Warner.

The trio has been accused of arranging bribes for up to 25 presidential voters on a campaign visit to the Caribbean.

Caribbean Football Union members were allegedly offered 40,000 U.S. dollars each at a May 9-10 conference in Trinidad, where Warner is a government minister.

Bin Hammam, who played an important role in Qatar's successful bid in December to host the 2022 World Cup, has acknowledged paying travel and accommodation expenses, and conference costs, but denies vote-buying.

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