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FIFA Rejects Former Executive's Appeal, Says He Remains Banned For Life

Former President of Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam, arriving at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
Fabrice Coffrini
/
AFP/Getty Images
Former President of Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam, arriving at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) stood by its decision of a life-time ban against Mohamed bin Hamman, the former Executive Committee member and FIFA presidential candidate.

"The appeal made by Mohammed bin Hammam has been rejected and the decision of the FIFA Ethics Committee confirmed. The sanction of being banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for life has therefore been maintained," FIFA announced in a press release.

If you don't remember, this is one of many scandals that's been dogging the international governing board of the sport this year. Here's how we wrapped up the story back in May:

The latest scandal involves Mohamed bin Hammam, the only person who was challenging incumbent Sepp Blatter for the presidency. Bin Hammam was suspended by FIFA's ethics committee for allegedly trying to buy votes, so he bowed out of the elections leaving a free path for Blatter to serve another four-year term.

The AP reports this might just be the beginning, however:

Bin Hammam has previously said he would challenge FIFA's verdicts at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Qatari official must go through FIFA's internal appeals system before taking his case to international sport's highest court in Lausanne.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.