Bin Hammam loses bid to reclaim post

A bid by ousted Asian soccer chief Mohamed bin Hammam to block the appointment of his replacement has been denied by a sports arbitration court, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said Monday.
The 62-year-old Qatari was handed a lifetime ban from the sport in July after he was found guilty of trying to buy votes in the FIFA presidential race by offering Caribbean football officials $40,000 each. He denies the charges.

Bin Hammam was replaced as AFC chief — and as a member of FIFA’s executive committee — by China’s Zhang Jilong.
Zhang was named acting head of Asian football after a provisional ban on Bin Hammam in May by FIFA’s ethics committee.
He has described the charges against him as “politically motivated”. His suspension led to his withdrawal from the world football body’s leadership election, handing incumbent president Sepp Blatter a fourth consecutive term in office.