Bin Hammam drops out of race for FIFA presidency

By ADAM SERRANO

Sepp Blatter has lost his lone competitor for the FIFA presidency. 

Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam withdrew his bid to become the president of FIFA just a day before he is to stand before the FIFA ethics committee due to allegations of bribery. Bin Hammam's withdrawal also comes just days before the June 1 FIFA election.

"It saddens me that standing up for the causes that I believed in has come at a great price -- the degradation of FIFA's reputation. This is not what I had in mind for FIFA and this is unacceptable," Bin Hammam said in a statement. "I cannot allow the name that I loved to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first. It is for this reason that I announce my withdrawal from the presidential election."

Bin Hammam, the architect for the successful 2022 World Cup bid for his native Qatar, had come under fire this week when he and CONCACAF president Jack Warner were accused by FIFA Executive Committee member and CONCACAF secretary general Chuck Blazer for offering $40,000 in bribes to national associations.

Blatter is also under investigation for looking the other way after allegedly knowing about the bribery. Warner, Bin Hammam and Blatter still have their hearing with the ethics committee scheduled for Sunday.

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