FIFA is expected to give its verdict on the bribery allegations levelled against Nigeria‘s Dr. Amos Adamu and Tahiti‘s Reynald Temarii in Zurich, Swizerland on Thursday.
The two FIFA executive members were last month suspended pending the outcome of the hearing into newspaper allegations they offered to sell their votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
FIFA began a three-day hearing into the allegations on Monday and was expected to round off on Wednesday.
The investigation became necessary after reporters for The Sunday Times of London posed as lobbyists for the US bid and allegedly caught Adamu, a Confederation of African Football executive committee member, requesting $800,000 support for a project in exchange for his vote. Reporters also allegedly caught Temarii of the Oceania Football Confederation demanding $3m to set up a sports academy in Auckland, in exchange for his vote.
Both officials have maintained their innocence, saying their filmed sequences were edited to make them appear guilty.
However, The Wall Street Journal claimed on Wednesday that FIFA would dismiss the corruption allegations against the duo. The Sunday Times is owned by News Corporation, which publishes The Wall Street Journal.
A source told the journal that the FIFA Ethics Committee investigating Adamu and Temarii would argue that the alleged offers were recorded through hidden video surveillance by reporters who mischaracterised their identities.
Should the investigation committee decide on any longer suspensions, that would prohibit the pair from voting on the 2018 and 2022 hosts on December 2.
Adamu‘s tenure on the FIFA executive committee will expire early next year.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011184185389
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