Mohamed bin Hammam

Documents obtained by the Sunday Times led to allegations that Bin Hammam had paid approximately $5 million to football officials to build support for Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid. Michael Garcia's investigation confirmed several irregular payments by Bin Hammam to officials but concluded that the evidence more probably linked them to his own 2011 FIFA presidential campaign and did not establish a direct connection with Qatar 2022.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Directly implicated

During his campaign against Sepp Blatter for FIFA president, Bin Hammam was accused of supplying money for $40,000 payments to Caribbean officials. FIFA initially banned him for life. In July 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the sanction because the investigation had failed to produce sufficient evidence; in December 2012, ethics investigator Michael Garcia closed this aspect for lack of new evidence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

Following the annulment of the first ban, a new investigation examined AFC finances during Bin Hammam's presidency. A PwC audit identified approximately $2 million leaving AFC accounts for third parties and questioned payments to federations or officials apparently made in a personal capacity. FIFA imposed a provisional 90-day suspension, which CAS declined to overturn.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following his resignation from all football positions, FIFA imposed a new lifetime ban on Mohamed bin Hammam for repeated conflict-of-interest violations during his AFC presidency between 2008 and 2011. This sanction rested on the new financial investigation, not the Caribbean allegations for which the first ban had been overturned.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated