The English Football Association will abstain from casting a ballot in the FIFA presidential election in a protest against both Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam.
The FA board made the decision on Thursday after fresh corruption claims were made last week at a British parliamentary inquiry against the FIFA executive committee and Qatar over the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“The FA board has today agreed to abstain in the vote for the presidency of FIFA,” FA chairman David Bernstein said in a statement. “There are a well-reported range of issues both recent and current which, in the view of the FA board, make it difficult to support either candidate.”
Blatter was elected FIFA president in 1998 and is seeking a fourth four-year term. Having been re-elected unopposed in 2007, Blatter is facing his first challenger since he beat Issa Hayatou in 2002.
“I think it is a little bit strange when the No. 1 one association in the world, i.e. the FA, have two candidates in front of them and cannot make a decision, which one to support,” Blatter said shortly before the FA announced its decision.
FIFA is currently investigating the validity of claims that executive committee members Hayatou and Jacques Anouma were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar, which was awarded the 2022 World Cup. The allegations were released to the British hearing by The Sunday Times newspaper after it gathered the evidence during an undercover investigation.
