Qatari official hits out at FIFA ban

AFP, DOHA: A senior Qatari official who recently overturned a one-year FIFA ban said on Tuesday the case against him was "political" and may stand again for the all-powerful FIFA Council.
Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatar Football Association's vice-president, was making his first public comments since winning his appeal against the ban, handed down by a FIFA ethics committee last year.
He was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,000, 18,700 euros) for refusing to cooperate with a corruption inquiry.
But in a rare reversal, Al-Mohannadi last month successfully overturned the sanctions against him.
“I was condemned with the wrong decision and it just took the appeals committee of FIFA to see that,” Al-Mohannadi told AFP. “They didn't have a case, they knew that it was political.
“I wanted to clear my name after all these years in football, you know you don't want to end your career with suspicion, especially if you had no wrongdoing.” Asked who was behind the politics, Al-Mohannadi replied: "You can say FIFA in general, and I don't blame FIFA now because of all this what's happening around FIFA and football."
Al-Mohannadi's long-running case has proved controversial for football's scandal-hit governing body and now threatens to overshadow next month's FIFA Congress in Bahrain.

Qatari official hits out at FIFA ban

AFP, DOHA: A senior Qatari official who recently overturned a one-year FIFA ban said on Tuesday the case against him was political and may stand again for the all-powerful FIFA Council. Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatar Football Associations vice-president, was making his first public comments since winning his appeal against the ban, handed down by a FIFA ethics committee last year. He was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,000, 18,700 euros) for refusing to cooperate with a corruption inquiry. But in a rare reversal, Al-Mohannadi last month successfully overturned the sanctions against him. I was condemned with the wrong decision and it just took the appeals committee of FIFA to see that, Al-Mohannadi told AFP. They didnt have a case, they knew that it was political. I wanted to clear my name after all these years in football, you know you dont want to end your career with suspicion, especially if you had no wrongdoing. Asked who was behind the politics, Al-Mohannadi replied: You can say FIFA in general, and I dont blame FIFA now because of all this whats happening around FIFA and football. Al-Mohannadis long-running case has proved controversial for footballs scandal-hit governing body and now threatens to overshadow next months FIFA Congress in Bahrain.