‘Cash-for-vote-scam’ will not damage England 2018 World Cup bid: Blatter

LONDON - Fifa President Sepp Blatter has claimed that England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup would not be affected by the Sunday Times investigation, following which two Fifa officials were banned for alleged corruption while four others were suspended.

Fifa executive committee members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii were suspended and fined on Thursday following allegations that they had asked for money in exchange for World Cup votes.

Blatter said ‘entrapment’ was “not fair” but added: “Why should this have an influence on the English bid?

“I don’t think they (the executive committee) will take into consideration what has been published or not,” the BBC quoted Blatter, as saying.

Adamu and Temarii were secretly filmed by reporters from the newspaper, who posed as lobbyists for an association of American companies that wanted to bring the tournament to the US.

Meanwhile, Ismael Bhamjee, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Slim Aloulou were punished for breaking rules on general conduct, loyalty, and of failing to report evidence of misconduct in relation to the case.

Blatter announced on Friday that two former Fifa employees, Ex-general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen and former tournament director Michel Bacchini, also caught up in the scandal had been declared “persona non grata” by a meeting of the governing body’s executive committee.

Although Blatter admitted that the bans imposed by the ethics committee gave Fifa a chance to “clean up,” he said that the investigation methods were not fair.

“No, I’m not pleased about that because this is not very fair but now we have a result it gives us an opportunity to clean a little bit whatever has to be cleaned. But I cannot say that it is very fair when you open traps to entrap people. But if the objective is to have a clean sheet in football then I can understand it,” he added. (ANI)