FIFA bans Qatar's Muhammed Bin Hammam for 3 months

Qatars Muhammed Bin Hammam, the scandal-tainted former FIFA presidential candidate, was banned temporarily from football on Thursday by the world governing bodys ethics committee pending the outcome of a probe into Asian Football Confederation (AFC) finances.The maximum three-month ban was made at the request of FIFAs Ethics Committee chairman Michel Garcia, the governing body said in a statement.Under the terms of the ban, Bin Hammam is not allowed to take part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for a period of a maximum of 90 days.The FIFA ethics committee announcement comes after Bin Hammam was last week provisionally replaced after nine years as AFC president and suspended for 30 days after an external audit into the accounts during his time in charge.The decision was taken to allow an investigation in respect of potential misconduct by Bin Hammam with regard to FIFAs code of ethics and to allow further evidence to be collected following his hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).The Lausanne-based tribunal last week backed Bin Hammams appeal against a life ban from football after he was accused of offering cash bribes to unseat long-standing president Sepp Blatter, but the three-member panel stopped short of exonerating him.Bin Hammam denied any wrongdoing, saying cash hand-outs he made during the election campaign were gifts.The 63-year-old, who spearheaded Qatars successful bid to win the 2022 World Cup, described the charges and his punishment by FIFA as politically motivated and last week said he wanted to quit the sport.Really I served football that long, more than 42 years, and the last year really I have seen a very bad, very ugly face of the sport and of the football, you know, jealousy, he said.My wish now is just to quit actually and retire.