World soccer body suspends pair over bribery allegations

Fifa pledged to look into claims that the pair offered financial incentives to members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in exchange for votes in this week’s election. Both men deny the allegations.

Fifa also said “no investigation is warranted” against its president Sepp Blatter. The announcement come hours after Bin Hammam withdrew from the presidential election, meaning Blatter will now stand as the only candidate on Wednesday.

Bin Hammam, from Qatar, and Warner are accused of handing over bundles of cash, each of 40,000 US dollars, to Caribbean football officials in Trinidad earlier this month. The payments were allegedly made to secure votes for Bin Hammam in his election campaign. Blatter was accused by his opponent of knowing about alleged payments.

Earlier, Bin Hammam said the allegations were “baseless” and vowed to stick by Warner.

He said: “I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game. I made the decision to run for the Fifa presidency because I was and remain committed to change within Fifa. I set out my goals and ambitions clearly – to further the cause of democracy within Fifa – through a commitment to transparency and accountability; through a commitment to expand the number of officials and nations involved in decision-making processes.”

Two officials from the CFU, Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, who were alleged to have handed over the money, have also been suspended. It was also announced that the English Football Association had cleared Fifa members Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi of allegations of bribery made by the FA’s former chairman Lord Triesman.