Asian officials to justify Bin Hamman

Published Jul. 21, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Several Asian football federations scrambled Saturday to justify tens of thousands of dollars that their top officials received from the region's governing body during the tenure of its suspended President Mohamed bin Hammam.

The payments to officials in countries such as the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and East Timor were among hundreds of thousands of dollars that bin Hammam gave supporters and friends, according to an audit obtained by The Associated Press.

The audit also found that bin Hammam enriched himself during a presidency of the Asian Football Confederation that started in 2002, signing several no-bid contracts with companies with whom he had personal relationships.

Federation officials contacted by the AP either said they had no information on the payments or insisted they did not constitute any wrongdoing by the officials.