By Andrew Warshaw
February 24 – Fifteen months after being banned by FIFA from world football over corruption allegations, Nigeria’s Amos Adamu (pictured) today lost his final attempt to clear his name at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Adamu was sanctioned by football’s world governing body for allegedly selling his vote in the run up to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup ballots following an investigation by the Sunday Times newspaper.
It was claimed he was offered $800,000 (£505,880/€596,525) to build four artificial football pitches in his homeland in a breach of FIFA’s Ethics rules.
A year ago FIFA’s Appeal Committee upheld the original November 2010 decision to ban the Nigerian for three years, taken by the organisation’s Ethics Committee.
Adamu was arguably the most powerful African administrator after Confederation of African Football (CAF) chief Issa Hayatou, being both a FIFA Executive Committee member and President of the West African Football Union (WAFU).
His suspension, along with that of Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii, came a few weeks before the 2018 and 2022 World Cup ballots, won respectively by Russia and Qatar.
The two cases sparked a wave of further suspensions among FIFA powerbrokers, which rocked the organisation’s credibility to the core.
Two more former executives, Amadou Diakite of Mali and Ahongalu Fusimalohi of Tonga, are both waiting for the results of their own appeals to the CAS.
Adamu has always maintained his innocence and pursued his appeal as far as it could go.
But in a statement the CAS said the sanction against him “was not disproportionate”.
“The panel was satisfied that [Dr Adamu] was far from actively and unambiguously refusing the improper offer,” the statement said.
“[The ban] was even relatively mild, considering the seriousness of the offence.
“The CAS panel stressed that it was of crucial importance that top football officials should not only be honest but should evidently and undoubtedly be seen to be honest.”
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