Bhamjee to explain his actions

drunken_master · Bhamjee to explain his actions

Disgraced FIFA Executive Committee Member Ismail Bhamjee will meet Botswana government officials on Wednesday to explain his actions that led to his expulsion from the World Cup.

The Sowetan reports that Bhamjee will also meet the Botswana Football Association (BFA) as well.

Bhamjee sold 12 tickets for last week's England versus Trinidad and Tobago Group B game for three times their face value, and also promised more tickets for England's next match.

After confessing to a FIFA Emergency Committee meeting chaired by President Sepp Blatter, Bhamjee signed a declaration admitting to selling the tickets on the black market.

He was ordered to leave Germany after he was caught touting World Cup tickets at up to three times their face value.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday announced its support of FIFA's decision to send Bhamjee home.

drunken_master

Disgraced Fifa official Ismail Bhamjee has released a statement relating to his expulsion by Fifa from 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Bhamjee was asked to leave the country after football’s world governing body found that the Botswana official had sold World Cup tickets at hugely inflated rates.

The statement reads: “I must confirm at the outset that I have made an error of judgment in relation to the sale of 12 tickets for the match between England and Trinidad and Tobago. I take full responsibility for the sale, the circumstances of which I do not wish at this stage to go into great detail. I have always been a man who takes responsibility for his actions and have acted accordingly.

I would however like to state the following: “I was at all times during the sale process under the impression that I was assisting and helping some unfortunate fans who were desperate to see their country play at the World Cup

“I did not go out to sell the 12 tickets or any other tickets in general. The 12 tickets were sourced upon request by England fans whom I met at a restaurant in Frankfurt and who were complaining about poor allocation of tickets.

“I am not, and have never been, involved in any ticket touting business. I was asked to sign the declaration prepared for me by FIFA in which, by my signature, I confirmed that I sold the 12 tickets.

“After signing the declaration, I was instructed by FIFA to leave Germany as I had been relieved of my World Cup duties. I have complied with the instruction. I have apologised for my actions and have acknowledged that these were wrong under the, circumstances. I maintain this position.

“I truly regret this isolated incident. I have tirelessly served the cause of football and football administration over the past 30 years in various organisations, even if I personally do not continue in any official capacity, I remain a passionate supporter of Botswana and African football and do not expect that the situation in which I find myself will compromise the growth or prospects of either in my absence.

“During all my time in football, and my life in general, I have always gone out on a limb to assist people in need. Unfortunately, it is the nature of this world that the good that one does is never appreciated, and that a single mistake is preyed upon. I am humbled by the messages of support which I have received from colleagues, friends, family and people in my own country, Botswana as well as in distant places in these difficult and trying circumstances.”

DGT

the whole thing looks like a setup.....

VHAMBLIDINHO

drunken_master

The scandal over a southern African Fifa official caught reselling World Cup tickets at three times their price was a sign of racism against black football administrators, a Fifa vice-president was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Disgraced Fifa executive member, Ishmael Bhamjee of Botswana, was sent home from the World Cup last week after selling 12 tickets to journalists posing as English fans.

Jack Warner, a Fifa vice-president from Trinidad and Tobago, said Bhamjee was a victim of "a smear campaign by certain Fifa officials".

"He was a victim of a trap," the City Press newspaper quoted Warner as saying. "It is part of the ongoing campaign against black administrators."

Warner was himself embroiled in controversy earlier this year over his business interest in a travel agency that acted as the only agency offering World Cup tickets for fans from the region.

Bhamjee was exposed in a sting operation by Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper, which then produced the evidence to football's ruling body.

He has admitted he sold on 12 tickets for the match between England and Trinidad and Tobago for €300 (about R2 800), €200 (about R1 800) than each ticket's face value.

Bhamjee told the City Press he had naively stumbled into a trap allegedly laid by unnamed Fifa officials.

He said he was "stunned by the quick action taken against me because certain Fifa officials have committed far more serious crimes".

Bhamjee insisted he was not greedy. "I was at all times during the sale process under the impression that I was assisting and helping some unfortunate fans who were desperate to see their country play at the World Cup," he said.

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smail Bhamjee, the high-ranking African soccer official and executive committee member of football's world governing body Fifa, said he was seeking legal counsel surrounding allegations he was involved in ticket touting.

Bhamjee was reported to have returned home quietly to Botswana this week, having been asked to leave Germany by Fifa after he was caught selling 12 category one tickets for a match between England and Trinidad and Tobago at three times the face value.

In a radio interview, though, Bhamjee's son, Naeem, said his father was taking legal advice.

"The punishment does not fit the crime in the least," he said, adding that his father believed the decision to ask him to leave had been made before the ticket scandal.

The allegations, for which Bhamjee said he apologised for while in Germany, has sparked outrage in the southern African region, including South Africa where he was accused of "tarnishing us all" through "selfishness and greed".

Bhamjee is the president of the Southern African Football Associations and serves on the executive committee of Africa's controlling body, CAF.

"Ismail Bhamjee's days in football may be numbered, but he isn't going to jump; he'll have to be pushed," the Johannesburg-based Star newspaper said.

"Bhamjee's conduct harms the image of football on the continent, especially in light of major attention turning to our country as the next host," a reader wrote in the Johannesburg-based Citizen newspaper.

On Thursday, he was to meet Botswana Football Association to discuss the incident in which he offered the tickets to journalists from Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper, the Star said.

"I was at all times during the sale process under the impression that I was assisting and helping some unfortunate fans who were desperate to see their country play in the World Cup," he was quoted as saying.

In an editorial, the Sowetan newspaper called on Bhamjee to resign all his positions in football, saying he had "betrayed the trust Africa had in him".

"For him to remind us about his well-noted contributions to the game is a sheer waste of time and an insult to our integrity as soccer lovers," the newspaper said