Mohammed bin Hammam

Mohammed bin Hammam
Bin Hammam, 2010
9th President of AFC
In office 1 August 2002 – 1 August 2011[1]
Vice President	Zhang Jilong
Preceded by	Ahmad Shah
Succeeded by	Zhang Jilong
Chairman of Qatar Football Association
In office 1 February 1992 – 1 February 1996
President	Hamad Al Thani
Preceded by	Rahman Ridzha
Succeeded by	Mohammed Hashem
Personal details
Born	Mohammed bin Hammam 8 May 1949 (1949-05-08) (age 62) Doha, Qatar
Nationality	Qatari
Spouse(s)	Fatima bin Hammam
Occupation	Football administrator

Mohamed bin Hammam (Arabic: محمد بن همّام‎; born 8 May 1949) is a Qatari who was formerly a football administrator and president of the Asian Football Confederation from 1 August 2002 to 14 June 2011, and a member of FIFA's 24-man executive committee from 1996 to 2011 for more than 15 years.^[2] On 23 July 2011, bin Hammam was banned for life from all FIFA and football related activities by an action of its Ethics Committee.^[3]

Early life

He was born on 8 May 1949 in Doha, Qatar. His father was a businessman and his mother was a nurse. He has two sons, Hamad, who lives in Washington, D.C., and Ziad. He worked in Qatar's football confederation from 1972 to 1996.

Presidency of AFC

During his time at the helm, he has overseen the creation of the AFC Champions League and the acceptance of Australia into the AFC. He has also initiated the strategic development program called Vision Asia extreme golf club. He has been a FIFA Executive Member since 1996. He has opposed the participation of the Wellington Phoenix team in the Asian Champions League. He was re-elected once again in 5 January 2011.

In March 2011, he called upon Arab and Muslim nations to play the Palestine national football team at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium: "I hope that all Arab and Muslim teams will come here to play matches against Palestine at their own home ground". A number of regional football squads had rejected the idea of playing there as it could be seen as tantamount to accepting the Israeli right to the West Bank.^[4]

As well as being the president of the Asian Football Confederation, he is also the chairman of the Fifa Goal Bureau, whose grants provide financial support for member associations across the world. He was also influential in bringing the 2022 FIFA World Cup to his native Qatar.

2011 FIFA presidential election

Main article: 61st FIFA Congress

In an interview with The Guardian, Mohammed bin Hammam stated he might run against the incumbent president Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA which will be decided during the 61st FIFA Congress between 31st May and 1st June 2011. He told the Guardian: "People have to try change. Change is good."^[5] Bin Hammam said that Blatter was "an experienced person, he has made significant contribution to football worldwide but I believe there is a time limit for everything. There is now a time for a new face and a new heir."^[6] Bin Hammam had supported Blatter's 1998 and 2002 presidential campaigns but admitted that he had fallen out with Blatter over issues within the FIFA Executive Committee. In August 2010 Bin Hamman had vowed not to run against Blatter saying that "I will be backing him to remain in office for a new mandate. He is my very good friend".^[7]

Following the 10 May 2011 meeting of the CFU, the Bahamas Football Association officially reported allegations of attempted bribery at the meeting to Chuck Blazer a FIFA Executive Committee member and General Secretary of CONCACAF. Blazer initiated an official investigation.^[8] As a result of the investigations preliminary findings, Bin Hammam was charged with offering bribes for votes and appeared before FIFA's ethics committee on the 29th May. Bin Hammam withdrew from the presidential race the day before the ethics committee meeting, leaving Blatter to run unopposed.^[9]

On 29 May 2011, FIFA's ethics committee suspended Bin Hammam and Jack Warner temporarily from all football-related activity pending the outcome of a full inquiry into accusations that they offered financial incentives to members of the Caribbean Football Union.^[10] Bin Hammam said that he would appeal against the committees decision to previsionally ban him from football related activity, saying that "The way these proceedings have been conducted is not compliant with any principles of justice."^[11] He also issued a statement calling for his reinstatement as well as responding to the claims in detail.

On 23 July 2011, Bin Hammam was banned for life from all football activities by a five-member panel of the FIFA Ethics committee chaired by Petrus Damaseb. The committee found that his actions violated the organization' ethics rules after studying the reports of investigators and hearing the testimony of witnesses from the May 2011 meeting who were also cross examined by Bin Hammam's legal representatives.^[12],^[13],^[14] Bin Hammam appealed against his ban, his appeal was rejected by the FIFA Appeal Committee. ^[15]

References

1. ^ Zhang Jilong assumes office
2. ^ http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/exco.html^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Bin Hammam Banned, The Independent, 24 July 2011, The Independent 24 July 2011
4. ^ Ezzedine, Hossam (10 March 2011). "Thailand defeat Palestine on penalties". AFP. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gnysB3qf5FSZhOtoRwomK8RFCV6Q?docId=CNG.2776ffab64034117966c14297a983fe4.2c1. Retrieved 12 March 2011. 
5. ^ Scott, Matt (10 March 2011). "Mohamed bin Hammam set to run against Sepp Blatter for Fifa presidency". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/10/mohamed-bin-hammam-fifa-presidency. 
6. ^ "Mohamed bin Hammam confirms intention to run for Fifa presidency". The Guardian. 5 May 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/18/mohamed-bin-hammam-fifa-president. 
7. ^ "Said & Done". The Guardian. 13 March 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/13/fifa-sepp-blatter. 
8. ^ Bahamian officials alert CONCACAF to bribery allegations, Bahamas B2bB, 31 May 2011
9. ^ "Mohamed bin Hammam withdraws from FIFA presidential race". The Guardian. 29 May 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/29/mohamed-bin-hammam-withdraws-fifa-race. 
10. ^ "Blatter escapes, Bin Hammam banned". ESPN Soccernet. 29 May 2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/924368/sepp-blatter-escapes-as-jack-warner,-mohammed-bin-hammam-suspended. Retrieved 23 July 2011. 
11. ^ "Bin Hammam to appeal against Fifa suspension". BBC. 30 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13590264.stm. 
12. ^ Bin Hammam Banned, The Independent, 24 July 2011, The Independent 24 July 2011
13. ^ http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/news/newsid=1479068/index.html, FIFA Press Statement 24 July 2011
14. ^ Video of Damaseb/Ethics Committee statement on Bin Hamman--FIFA, FIFA Video of bin Hammam Press Conference, 24 July 2011
15. ^ http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/news/newsid=1511253/index.html, FIFA Press Statement 15 September 2011

External links

• Personal website

Civic offices
Preceded by Mohammed Hashem	President of Al Rayyan Sports Club 1982 - 1992	Succeeded by Abdullah Bin Hamad
Preceded by Rahman Ridzha	Chairman of Qatar Football Association 1992 - 1996	Succeeded by Mohammed Hashem
Preceded by Ahmad Shah	President of Asian Football Confederation 2002 – 2011	Succeeded by Zhang Jilong

Persondata
Name	Hammam, Mohammed bin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 May 1949
Place of birth	Doha, Qatar
Date of death
Place of death