Nigerian FIFA official denies vote selling claims

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Nigerian FIFA official denies vote selling claims

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23 October,2010 03:37 pm

A Nigerian Fifa official has denied allegations of corruption and said that he offered to sell his vote in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup. Amos Adamu told that he welcomed the Fifa investigation into the claims. Mr Adamu allegedly said he wanted cash to build pitches in Nigeria. Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, is also alleged to have asked for a payment, in his case to finance a sports academy. He denies the claim, suggesting that his comments on the Sunday Times video had been taken out of context. Mr Adamu and Mr Temarii, both members of Fifa's 24-man executive committee, were suspended by the organisation for 30 days on Wednesday. Fifa is the international governing body of association football. The [Fifa] ethics committee will investigate this and I am very happy about it because this will enable the whole world to know the truth of the matter, Mr Adamu told. Mr Adamu, who is also president of the West African Football Union, is said to have told the undercover reporters he wanted $800,000 (500,000) to build the four artificial football pitches in Nigeria. A 24-strong Fifa committee will decide by secret ballot on 2 December who should host the tournament. However, Fifa is also investigating Spain, Portugal and Qatar in connection with alleged collusion over voting for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Spain and Portugal are making a joint 2018 bid, while Qatar is eyeing 2022. Collusion between bidding countries is strictly forbidden by the regulations.