csconstantine.com

BEIJING (AP)—The acting boss of Asian football said FIFA had no right to suspend Mohamed bin Hammam from his role as head of the Asian Football Confederation, a Chinese newspaper reported Tuesday.

Zhang Jilong was installed as the AFC’s interim president while bin Hammam is suspended from all football duties pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations he offered bribes in return for votes in his now-abandoned bid for the FIFA presidency.

“FIFA suspended bin Hammam but he is still the president of AFC,” Zhang was quoted to say by the China Daily, citing quotes from the Chinese news website Sina.com. “FIFA has no right to prevent him from acting his role in AFC.”

The quote had been removed from Sina.com’s news article by Tuesday afternoon.

Despite Zhang’s remarks, the AFC confirmed in a statement early Tuesday that he would act as its president during bin Hammam’s suspension.

Zhang, 59, is the AFC’s most senior vice president. He ran for a seat on FIFA’s executive committee earlier this year, but lost out in a vote at January’s AFC congress in Doha. He also served on the 2008 Beijing Olympics organizing committee.

FIFA’s 208 member nations are due to vote on the presidency on Wednesday, even though incumbent Sepp Blatter is the only candidate.

FIFA vice president Michel Platini had raised the prospect of a walkout by Asian members in protest at bin Hammam’s treatment, although the Qatari is far from universally popular within Asian football, only being re-elected to the AFC’s top job by the slimmest possible margin earlier this year.

Labels: Hammam, right, suspend