FIFA boss sees racism in ticket sting: report

Jun 25, 2006, 19:43 GMT

Berlin - The scandal over an African FIFA official who was caught reselling World Cup tickets at three times their price is a sign of racism against black football administrators, a FIFA vice- president was quoted Sunday as saying.

The disgraced FIFA executive member, Ishmael Bhamjee of Botswana, was sent home from the World Cup last week after selling 12 tickets to journalists posing as English fans.

Jack Warner, a FIFA vice-president from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, said Bhamjee was a victim of 'a smear campaign by certain FIFA officials,' South Africa's City Press reported.

'He was a victim of a trap,' the newspaper quoted Warner as saying. 'It is part of the ongoing campaign against black administrators.'

Warner, who is black, was himself embroiled in controversy earlier thi year surrounding his business interests which are said to include a travel agency that acted as the only agency offering World Cup tickets for fans from the region.

Bhamjee was exposed in a sting operation by Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper, which then produced the evidence to football's ruling body.

He has admitted that he sold on 12 tickets for the match between England and Trinidad and Tobago for 300 euros (375 dollars) each, 200 euros above face value.

Bhamjee told City Press he had naively stumbled into a trap allegedly laid by unnamed FIFA officials.

He said he was 'stunned by the quick action taken against me because certain FIFA officials have committed far more serious crimes.'

Faced with fierce criticism back in southern Africa, Bhamjee insisted he was not greedy.

'I was at all times during the sale process under the impression that I was assisting and helping some unfortunate fans who were desperate to see their country play at the World Cup,' he told the paper.

Bhamjee left Germany on June 18 after FIFA ordered him to give up his World Cup-related duties. He has sat on FIFA's 24-man executive committee member since 1998.

He also heads the Southern African football associations and serves on the executive committee of Africa's controlling body, CAF.