LAUSANNE, Switzerland, CMC – One of the arbitrators hearing Mohamed Bin Hammam’s case to prevent the Asian Football Confederation from removing him as president said both sides have presented good arguments.
Denis Oswald, a member of the three-member Court of Arbitration for Sport panel presiding over the case, said he was impressed with the arguments put forward by both sides.
Oswald is from Switzerland and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. He is also the President of FISA, the international rowing federation, and is overseeing preparations for this year’s Olympics and Paralympics in London.
“We heard different submissions by the parties, but they will supplement their overall submissions in writing, so we will have to wait a few more weeks until we have everything available,” said Swiss national Oswald.
Bin Hammam did not attend the hearing, and his American lawyer, Eugene Gulland, declined to comment.
Bin Hammam was banned for life last year for his role in the cash-for-votes bribery scandal that rocked the Caribbean Football Union last year.
He is appealing against the sentence, a date for which has not yet been fixed, but first wants a ruling that allows him to hang on to the presidency of his confederation.
China’s Zhang Jilong has been running the AFC in Bin Hammam’s absence and has taken the AFC’s seat on FIFA’s Executive Committee which Bin Hammam has held for the last 16 years.
