ENKENBACH-ALSENBORN, Germany -- A high-ranking FIFA official was sent home
from the World Cup in disgrace Saturday after admitting he sold World Cup
tickets for three times face value.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was "furious" after Botswana's Ismail
Bhamjee confirmed he sold tickets at inflated prices.
Blatter chaired an Emergency Committee meeting that decided to relieve
Bhamjee from World Cup duties and asked him to "leave Germany at the earliest
possible moment."
He will remain a member of the executive committee, pending further action.
"I am very disappointed at what came out here," Blatter said after the
unveiling of a monument to 1954 World Cup winner Fritz Walter.
Blatter said a British journalist came to FIFA with evidence of the scalping.
Bhamjee was then confronted by FIFA.
"This is a fact that really makes me furious," Blatter said. "This man must
leave the competition immediately. His accreditation is being revoked. It is so
disappointing."
Bhamjee, 62, admitted to the committee he sold tickets for England's match
against Trinidad and Tobago at Nuremburg on June 15 for $380. The tickets had a
face value of $127.
"I deeply regret this incorrect act and apologize to FIFA for violating the
relevant terms and conditions governing the sale of tickets for the World Cup,"
Bhamjee said in a statement.
Bhamjee has been president of the Botswana soccer association and member of
the African soccer confederation since 1988. He became a member of the FIFA
executive committee in '98.
He has also been involved in the Olympic movement, as secretary-general of
the Botswana Olympic Committee from 1979-88 and treasurer of Africa's
Association of National Olympic Committees from 1989-2001.
FIFA's executive committee comprises Blatter, a senior vice president, six
vice presidents and 16 other members, including Bhamjee.
Bhamjee also was deputy chairman of FIFA's Associations Committee and a
member of the finance committee.
At the World Cup, he was a designated match commissioner based in Frankfurt.
Bhamjee attended the FIFA Congress in Munich on June 8, when members voted
188-6 in favor of establishing an independent Ethics Committee.
Soccer has been mired in scandals on several continents, including the
ongoing investigation into allegations of match-fixing, illegal betting and
manipulation of referee assignments in the Italian league.
AP Sports Writer John Pye in Berlin contributed to this report.
