Bin Hammam wants Fifa to open up

Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has stated that he will make the bidding process for future World Cups more open if he is elected to the post.

Bin Hammam said Fifa was not corrupt but told the BBC the organisation needed to be more transparent.

“We need to explain decision making – people are making decisions that affect millions,” he told BBC sports editor David Bond.

Bin Hammam added: “We belong to the people – acting on behalf of them.”

Fifa president Sepp Blatter came under fire after Fifa’s vote in December for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

There were allegations of corruption in the bidding process and two executive committee members were suspended, while four other officials were sanctioned.

We need a greater understanding between Fifa and associations. We are friends and not enemies

Bin Hammam, the Asian Football Confederation president, said the public would have more confidence in Fifa if the process was opened up to scrutiny.

“It’s reasonable and logical to vote openly – it happens in other organisations, why shouldn’t it happen in Fifa?” he said.

The 61-year-old Qatari also defended his country’s bid for the 2022 World Cup.

He said it was the “correct decision” to award the tournament to Qatar and insisted the country “did nothing wrong” in the bidding process.

He said the 2022 bid was “respected by the world”, but admitted future bidding processes “have to be transparent so that the public can see exactly what is happening”.

Bin Hammam went on to add that there was a need to reduce the decision making burden on Fifa’s central committee, and “give confederations more responsibility”.

“We need a greater understanding between Fifa and associations” he said. “We are friends and not enemies. We need a common understanding – our interests are all the same.”

He also stressed that he was in favour of the introduction of goal-line technology.

The election for a new president takes place at the two-day Fifa Congress in Zurich, which starts on 31 May.

Blatter, 75, has been in charge of world football’s governing body since June 1998, and has not been challenged since 2002, when he defeated African confederation president Issa Hayatou by 139 votes to 56.