By Omulo Okoth
In one fell swoop, Africa's most prominent son who towers over the continent's football administration like an Iroko tree was felled.
The three-year suspension of Fifa Executive Committee Member Amos Adamu and four others has blighted the beautiful game again.
You guessed right. Africa was the biggest casualty, with four officials slapped with bans ranging from one to three years and fines equivalent to between Sh600,000 and Sh1m. Also suspended was Reynald Temarii of Tahiti in the Oceania.
Adamu, a Nigerian, was Africa's most powerful international official outside CAF Presidency. Indeed, CAF President Issa Hayatou of Cameroon had placed him way above the rest in his succession strategy. Adamu was a veritable favourite.
That is why the other suspensions of Tunisia's Slim Aloulou, Bhamji and Diakite of Mali pale in significance. Adamu was busted by Sunday Times of England in a 2022 Fifa World Cup bid city vote-for-sale scandal, which has brought a hitherto high-flying career to an abrupt end.
Has appealed
Adamu has appealed against the ban. But even if he does, chances that he would be left off the hook are pretty remote.
For a man worth millions of dollars, his predicament, involving a mere $500,000, is indeed a shame.
Adamu fell to the trap when he reportedly accepted the offer to boost the financial base of a foundation he is running. Had he known this was a trap, and I blame his chi (personal god) who was apparently asleep when the reporters, masquerading as American businessmen pushing for the US 2022 vote, came calling.
For those who know him, $500,000 is small change for a man who prides himself as among the most powerful civil servants in Nigeria. He headed the 2003 All African Games Local Organising Committee in the federal political capital of Abuja.
Dispatched to arbitrate
When Kenya's football crisis began in 2004, it was Adamu who was dispatched by Fifa and CAF to come and arbitrate. But his patience with wrangling Kenyan officials ran out very fast.
He could not understand why grown up people seemed to be chasing their tails like rabid dogs.
He was approached and he fell for the trap. That he did not approach these guys did not mitigate his case. Opinions have differed on the rationale taken by Fifa to suspend the officials.
A senior Fifa man was last week quoted as wondering, "why wash dirty linen in dirty water." Some feel Adamu & Co were sacrificed in much the same way that many African IOC ExeCom officials were shown the door in the wake of Salt Lake City Winter Games scandal of 2000.
But some are celebrating. A Nigerian newspaper exclaimed "At long last" in a heading announcing the Adamu story. Fifa's head of Ethics Commission said under his watch, there would be zero tolerance to corruption. But a statement by the BBC World Service seemed to receive such assertion with palpable scepticism.
Not clean
The perception out there, thanks to British Press, is that Fifa cannot come completely clean on matters of World Cup host city bidding process.
Fifa has scored big in the court of public relations, but only time will tell whether a new beginning has dawned on the controversial bidding process.
Probably this is an attempt by Fifa to send a strong message to the football world that it will not be business as usual and that ExeCom members must raise the bar on matters of ethics.
But to start the cleaning process with Africa's sons is a sad indictment on the image of our officials at the international stage.
— The writer is The Standard Sports Editor, iomulo@standardmedia.co.ke
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
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