Bin Hammam Withdraws from FIFA Race

Mohamed Bin Hammam

Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, and current Fifa president Sepp Blatter are due to appear before the governing body's ethics committee on Sunday, following corruption claims.

Bin Hammam and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner face bribery allegations while Mr Blatter is accused of knowing about alleged bribery. But in a statement released on his website, Mohamed Bin Hammam revealed his decision to withdraw from the election.

He said: 'It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price - the degradation of FIFA's reputation. This is not what I had in mind for Fifa and this is unacceptable.

'I cannot allow the name that I loved to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals.'

He added: 'I will not put my personal ambition ahead of FIFA's dignity and integrity.'

The Qatari representative had campaigned for the presidency on a promise to make Fifa more transparent.

His decision to withdraw now leaves Mr Blatter unopposed in the election, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

FIFA has weathered a storm of criticism in recent months following its decision to grant the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.